Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink outfit worn by Robbie Williams. His performance in front of a hundred thousand spectators was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't appreciate Robbie Williams. You might think he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a balanced view, admitting that some hits are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to produce art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon external factors.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is art, the strip is the foundation on which the players paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format taken to pieces and reassembled in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which produced a win and the another short match of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in a cascade of wickets being taken in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The long game is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Other times, it turns square on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling because of the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by world-class batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Try telling the fans who have experienced years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the stadium, thousands made noise and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack excelled, momentum when players fought back, and pure joy when the victory was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a game there featured a wicket with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with limited drama and slow play. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither ideal, yet significance can be found in them.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the history books.
"Far from being the end of the format at all," observed a former player. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been treated to some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The players protected him, restoring the joy to his face.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are small positives, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to develop from.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the outfield to start their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, men. You've earned this one.
