In a showcase on the upper level of the MCG rests a electric pink ensemble worn by the entertainer. His show in front of a hundred thousand spectators was seen as a triumph.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some hits are belting while others are poor.
The central idea is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is no one way to produce art or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by the environment.
The weather, the hour of play, the ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the wicket is the foundation on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the seamers. In contrast, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the patience made in other matches.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Some factors are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the best players were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and adapting effectively. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged players. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the devotees who have suffered 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the MCG, countless fans waved their flags and created an atmosphere, fostering a festive mood in a heartland of national pride.
There was optimism as the bowlers excelled, advantage when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a marathon, with limited drama and interminable tedium. This recent match and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the scale – one is not more ideal, yet value can be attached to each.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the history books.
"Far from being the demise of the format at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these short time have been given some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players protected him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his persona.
New faces performed with vital performances. These are small positives, hardly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a foundation to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory is added to other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad gathered on the turf to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
