'Are You Not Entertained?' Why a 48-Hour Test Deserved Its Status as a Authentic Test Match.

Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the MCG sits a electric pink outfit donned by Robbie Williams. His concert in front of 100,024 fans was seen as a triumph.

Perhaps you don't enjoy Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some songs are fantastic while others are terrible.

The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to craft literature or even five-day cricket.

The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket

Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon the environment.

The weather, the session, the ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the playing surface.

If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.

An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test

The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game taken to pieces and stuck back together in abstract form.

Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.

Allowing 10mm of grass on the pitch, causing a cascade of wickets falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.

A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket

But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.

Test cricket is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the seamers. Other times, it turns square on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.

The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the investment committed elsewhere.

Adaptation: The Core Skill

Some factors are embraced more freely than others.

The debate in during the match was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.

Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and responding effectively. The top two individual innings were made by recognized stars. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.

Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View

Go and inform the fans who have endured years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.

In one section of the MCG, thousands celebrated and chanted, fostering a party atmosphere in a heartland of Australian cricket.

There was hope as the attack surged, impetus when batters fought back, and pure joy when the victory was confirmed.

Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches

The MCG has a history with pitch problems. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.

That fixture was a marathon, with limited drama and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that previous match are extreme ends of the range – both are not perfect, yet historical weight can be attached to both.

Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the history books.

"Far from being the death of Test cricket at all," said a former player. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these short time have been experienced some genuine drama. Different entertainment."

Small Victories: Building for the Future

In the preparation to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.

The players delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his face.

New faces stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to secure long-term success, but a starting point to use as a platform.

Ultimately, this MCG win takes its place among other historic performances in similar circumstances.

As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the team congregated on the turf to commence their own festivities.

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