'Are You Not Entertained?' The Reason a Two-Day Test Deserved Its Status as a Proper Test.

Displayed inside a showcase on the elevated floor of the MCG is housed a neon pink outfit donned by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a major hit.

It's possible you enjoy Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music in history. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are terrible.

The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is no one way to produce music or even Test cricket.

The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format

Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by external factors.

The climate, the time of day, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the wicket.

If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.

A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test

The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the established format dismantled and stuck back together in an unusual manner.

It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.

Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.

A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket

But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as not a proper Test, is mistaken.

Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.

The exciting finishes are particularly captivating because of the time committed during quieter periods.

Adjustment: The Real Challenge

Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.

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

This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the wicket and responding appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.

Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View

Try telling the fans who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.

Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a carnival vibe in a heartland of national pride.

There was hope as the bowlers dominated, momentum when the top order responded, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.

Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches

The MCG has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with all the life of a a non-event.

That contest was a slog, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the scale – one is not more the standard, yet significance 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.

"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," said a former player. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these two days have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."

Small Victories: Building for the Future

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

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

Emerging talents delivered with crucial roles. These are small positives, not nearly enough to secure long-term futures, but a starting point to use as a platform.

At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other memorable performances in meaningless games.

As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad assembled on the outfield to begin their own festivities.

Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.