Displayed inside a showcase on the elevated floor of the MCG is housed a vibrant pink suit performed in by the entertainer. The show in front of 100,024 fans was seen as a triumph.
You might not appreciate Robbie Williams. You might think he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. You might take a balanced view, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are terrible.
The central idea is that enjoyment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to craft art or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The climate, the hour of play, the ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which resulted in a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the pitch, causing numerous dismissals tumbling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The format is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and still growing. At times, as witnessed recently, the ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling due to the patience committed during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Some factors are tolerated more easily than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the top batters were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the situation and adapting effectively. The best individual innings were made by recognized stars. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have suffered years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the MCG, countless fans made noise and sang their songs, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, advantage when the top order scored quickly, and unconditional love when the result was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has form with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a strip with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the scale – neither ideal, yet historical weight can be attached to both.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"Far from being the end of the long game at all," commented a past champion. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been treated to some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The squad responded for him, restoring the smile to his persona.
Emerging talents delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to ensure long-term futures, but a foundation to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this MCG win takes its place among other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the squad assembled on the field to commence their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
