Displayed inside a glass case on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. The concert in front of a hundred thousand spectators was hailed as a major hit.
You might not appreciate Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The key argument is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to create literature or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the wicket.
If the long game is art, the strip is the foundation on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the established format broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which produced a victory and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the pitch, leading to 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, a long history and ongoing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating owing to the patience made in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were unable from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about problem solving – interpreting the conditions and adjusting accordingly. The two highest individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have endured 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the MCG, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, generating a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was belief as the attack dominated, impetus when the top order responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has a history with pitch problems. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a slog, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the range – neither ideal, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the death of the long game at all," said a past champion. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The players delivered for him, restoring the joy to his face.
Emerging talents stepped up with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term success, but a starting point to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory is added to other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters slipped away into a stunning sunset, the squad assembled on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. It's well deserved.
