Within a showcase on the elevated floor of the MCG rests a electric pink suit donned by the pop star. His performance in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a success.
It's possible you enjoy Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, conceding that some songs are fantastic while others are poor.
The key argument is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to produce music or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The climate, the time of day, the ball – the list is endless. Most important is the pitch.
If the format is a form of art, the strip is the foundation on which the cricketers create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the established format dismantled and reassembled in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which yielded a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, resulting in a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a varied portfolio, a long history and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the patience committed elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Some factors are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were prevented from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – interpreting the conditions and adapting effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class players. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans celebrated and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack excelled, advantage when batters fought back, and unconditional love when the victory was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a pitch with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not ideal, yet value can be attached to both.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the memory.
"Far from being the end of the format at all," said a former player. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these two days have been treated to some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this match, the captain talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The squad protected him, reinstating the joy to his face.
Different players stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term success, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this triumph is added to other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the players assembled on the outfield to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
