Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the MCG is housed a vibrant pink suit performed in by the entertainer. The show in front of a hundred thousand fans was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, admitting that some hits are belting while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to produce literature or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The climate, the session, the red ball – the list is endless. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the strip is the foundation on which the cricketers create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the established format taken to pieces and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the surface which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, leading to 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling because of the time committed during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Some factors are embraced more freely than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were hindered from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the situation and adjusting accordingly. The best individual scores were made by world-class players. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the supporters who have suffered a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans celebrated and chanted, producing a festive mood in a heartland of sport.
There was optimism as the fielding side excelled, momentum when batters fought back, and unconditional love when the victory was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with the character of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet historical weight can be attached to each.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the history books.
"It's not the demise of the long game at all," commented a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The players protected him, reinstating the joy to his face.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to ensure long-term stability, but something to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters departed into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the turf to start their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, lads. It's well deserved.
