Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink suit worn by the entertainer. The show in front of a hundred thousand attendees was considered a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy his music. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a reasonable stance, conceding that some songs are belting while others are poor.
The central idea is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to craft music or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on external factors.
The climate, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Most important is the wicket.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game broken apart and reassembled in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which yielded a triumph and the second two-day Test of the series.
Leaving excessive grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball moves excessively for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are tolerated more easily than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the situation and adjusting effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class stars. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the fans who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the ground, countless fans celebrated and sang their songs, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the attack surged, impetus when players responded, and pure joy when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has form with pitch problems. Previously, a game there featured a strip with all the life of a a non-event.
That fixture was a grind, with minimal action and endless boredom. The two-day game and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more ideal, yet value can be found in each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"Far from being the demise of the format at all," said a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players delivered for him, restoring the smile to his persona.
New faces delivered with key contributions. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to secure long-term stability, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad assembled on the outfield to commence their own festivities.
Savour the moment, boys. You've earned this one.
