'Are You Not Entertained?' Why a Shortened Match Was No Less a Genuine Test Match.

In a glass case on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink ensemble performed in by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a major hit.

Perhaps you don't like the performer. You might think he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some tracks are excellent while others are awful.

The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no one way to craft music or even Test cricket.

The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game

The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon the environment.

The weather, the time of day, the ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the pitch.

If the format is art, the strip is the blank slate on which the players paint their masterpiece.

A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match

The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.

This is not a endorsement of the pitch which resulted in a victory and the another short match of the contest.

Leaving a thick layer on the pitch, leading to numerous dismissals tumbling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between bat and ball.

A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket

But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.

Test cricket is a diverse canvas, a long history and ongoing. At times, as witnessed recently, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. In contrast, it spins sharply on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.

The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the investment devoted in other matches.

Adaptation: The True Test

Some factors are tolerated more freely than others.

The contention in during the match was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the best players were hindered from showcasing their talents.

The format is about problem solving – assessing the situation and responding effectively. The best individual innings were made by world-class players. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.

Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View

Go and inform the fans who have suffered 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.

Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans waved their flags and chanted, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.

There was optimism as the bowlers dominated, advantage when batters responded, and pure joy when the win was confirmed.

Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches

The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a match there featured a strip with the excitement of a a non-event.

That contest was a grind, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that previous match are extreme ends of the scale – one is not more perfect, yet value can be attached to each.

At this stage into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the history books.

"This isn't the end of the long game at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."

Baby Steps: Looking Ahead

In the build-up to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.

The squad responded for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his persona.

Emerging talents delivered with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to ensure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.

At the very least, this Melbourne victory is added to other memorable performances in meaningless games.

As the crowd departed into a stunning sunset, the team assembled on the turf to start their own festivities.

Enjoy the drink, lads. You've earned this one.