'Did It Not Captivate?' Why a 48-Hour Test Was No Less a Proper Cricket Test.

Within a glass case on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a vibrant pink suit performed in by the entertainer. The performance in front of 100,024 fans was considered a success.

Perhaps you don't like the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, acknowledging 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 one way to craft music or even the longest format.

The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game

Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on external factors.

The elements, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the pitch.

If the long game is art, the pitch is the foundation on which the athletes create their art.

A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match

The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in an unusual manner.

It must be stated this is not a defence of the pitch which resulted in a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.

Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not an even battle between offense and defense.

A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket

But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.

The format is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.

The close matches are even more exciting owing to the investment made elsewhere.

Problem Solving: The True Test

Certain variables are tolerated more readily than others.

The argument in at the MCG was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.

This level of cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the conditions and adapting accordingly. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged players. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.

Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View

Try telling the supporters who have endured a long drought that this wasn't compelling.

Among the crowd of the MCG, thousands made noise and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.

There was hope as the attack dominated, momentum when batters scored quickly, and pure joy when the result was achieved.

Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches

The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a strip with the excitement of a a non-event.

That match was a grind, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that slow Test are polar opposites of the range – one is not more the standard, yet value can be found in each.

Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the history books.

"Far from being the end of Test cricket at all," said a veteran. "Fans who have been privileged to see these short time have been given some real entertainment. A unique show."

Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope

In the preparation to this match, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.

The players responded for him, restoring the joy to his face.

Different players stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a foundation to use as a platform.

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

As the supporters left into a beautiful night, the squad assembled on the outfield to begin their own festivities.

Savour the moment, men. It's well deserved.