Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink ensemble donned by the entertainer. The show in front of a hundred thousand fans was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are terrible.
The central idea is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce music or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on conditions.
The climate, the time of day, the red ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the pitch is the foundation on which the athletes craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which produced a victory and the another short match of the contest.
Leaving excessive grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, a long history and still growing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it turns square on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating because of the time committed elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are embraced more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the conditions and responding accordingly. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class players. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the supporters who have endured 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people made noise and created an atmosphere, producing a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, impetus when players responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has a history with pitch problems. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with all the life of a a non-event.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not ideal, yet value can be attached to each.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the end of Test cricket at all," said a past champion. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been given some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The team responded for him, restoring the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with crucial roles. These are small positives, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
In the end, this MCG win joins other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team assembled on the field to begin their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
