In a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink outfit donned by the pop star. His concert in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a success.
Perhaps you don't like Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, conceding that some tracks are fantastic while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to create music or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The elements, the session, the ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is art, the strip is the canvas on which the players create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
This is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, causing numerous dismissals falling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and still growing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. In contrast, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting owing to the time devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the top batters were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – assessing the conditions and responding appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by world-class stars. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Attempt to convince the fans who have endured years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people waved their flags and chanted, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack excelled, advantage when players responded, and rapturous celebration when the victory was achieved.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a game there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the scale – neither perfect, yet value can be found in them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the death of Test cricket at all," said a past champion. "The people who have been fortunate to see these short time have been experienced some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players protected him, restoring the positive demeanor to his face.
Emerging talents delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to ensure long-term futures, but something to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this triumph is added to other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the fans slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team gathered on the field to start their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
