Displayed inside a display cabinet on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a neon pink outfit worn by the entertainer. The concert in front of a massive crowd of attendees was hailed as a major hit.
It's possible you enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, acknowledging that some songs are belting while others are awful.
The point being is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to create music or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by external factors.
The climate, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the format is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the established format broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the pitch which produced a win and the another short match of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the pitch, causing a cascade of wickets falling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: 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.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and still growing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. In contrast, it turns square on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling because of the patience devoted in other matches.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the best players were unable from showcasing their talents.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – reading the situation and responding effectively. The best individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the devotees who have experienced 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the ground, countless fans celebrated and chanted, generating a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the attack dominated, advantage when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the result was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a game there featured a wicket with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet historical weight can be attached to both.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"This isn't the demise of Test cricket at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these short time have been experienced some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the captain talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team delivered for him, restoring the joy to his face.
Different players delivered with vital performances. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters left into a beautiful night, the team assembled on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, boys. It's well deserved.
