Within a showcase on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium is housed a electric pink outfit worn by the pop star. His show in front of a hundred thousand spectators was considered a triumph.
Perhaps you don't appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, admitting that some songs are fantastic while others are terrible.
The point being is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no one way to produce literature or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on conditions.
The elements, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the foundation on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format taken to pieces and stuck back together in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the pitch which produced a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the pitch, resulting in numerous dismissals being taken in less than two days, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The close matches are particularly captivating due to the time made elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Certain variables are embraced more readily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from showcasing their talents.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the wicket and responding appropriately. The two highest individual scores were made by recognized stars. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the devotees who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans waved their flags and chanted, producing a carnival vibe in a bastion of sport.
There was belief as the fielding side dominated, impetus when the top order responded, and pure joy when the win was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a wicket with all the life of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that slow Test are polar opposites of the scale – both are not perfect, yet significance can be attached to both.
At this stage into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"This isn't the demise of the long game at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been given some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The squad delivered for him, reinstating the smile to his countenance.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players gathered on the field to commence their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
