In a showcase on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink ensemble donned by the entertainer. His performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was seen as a triumph.
Perhaps you don't appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some hits are fantastic while others are poor.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to create literature or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The climate, the session, the red ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the pitch which produced a triumph and the another short match of the series.
Having a thick layer on the wicket, causing numerous dismissals tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is incorrect.
The long game is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and ongoing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. Other times, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating because of the patience committed elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are tolerated more freely than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about adapting to challenges – reading the situation and adjusting accordingly. The two highest individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the devotees who have experienced a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the ground, countless fans made noise and created an atmosphere, fostering a party atmosphere in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack surged, advantage when players responded, and pure joy when the victory was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and endless boredom. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the range – both are not perfect, yet significance can be found in each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of the long game at all," commented a veteran. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team delivered for him, reinstating the smile to his persona.
New faces stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the fans slipped away into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the outfield to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, boys. It's well deserved.
