'Did It Not Captivate?' The Reason a Two-Day Test Was No Less a Genuine Test Match.

Within a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a neon pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. The show in front of a massive crowd of attendees was seen as a major hit.

Perhaps you don't appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, admitting that some songs are belting while others are terrible.

The central idea is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no one way to craft literature or even Test cricket.

The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket

Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on external factors.

The climate, the time of day, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the pitch.

If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the foundation on which the cricketers create their art.

A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match

The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.

This is not a defence of the pitch which yielded a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.

Having excessive grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets being taken in less than two days, is not an even battle between offense and defense.

A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket

But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.

Test cricket is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and counting. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.

The close matches are even more exciting because of the patience made in other matches.

Adjustment: The Real Challenge

Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.

The argument in at the MCG was that the balance was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the top batters were unable from playing their natural game.

This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and adjusting effectively. The two highest individual innings were made by world-class players. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.

Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective

Try telling the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.

In a corner of the ground, countless fans celebrated and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.

There was hope as the attack dominated, momentum when players fought back, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.

Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches

The MCG has form with controversial surfaces. In the past, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.

That match was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the range – neither ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.

At this stage into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.

"It's not the demise of the long game at all," commented a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these short time have been given some fantastic sport. A unique show."

Signs of Progress: Building for the Future

In the lead-in to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.

The team protected him, restoring the joy to his face.

New faces performed with crucial roles. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to ensure long-term success, but something to develop from.

In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in similar circumstances.

As the fans left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad gathered on the turf to begin their own celebrations.

Enjoy the drink, lads. This victory was hard-fought.