Displayed inside a glass case on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a vibrant pink suit worn by the entertainer. The show in front of 100,024 fans was hailed as a major hit.
It's possible you like the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some songs are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that amusement can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to craft art or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the wicket.
If the long game is art, the strip is the foundation on which the players craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the surface which resulted in a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the surface, leading to numerous dismissals falling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is incorrect.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are even more exciting due to the investment made elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Specific conditions are tolerated more readily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the best players were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and adapting accordingly. The best individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the fans who have endured years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the stadium, countless fans made noise and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the fielding side surged, advantage when players responded, and unconditional love when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a pitch with all the life of a a non-event.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that slow Test are polar opposites of the range – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be found in them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"Far from being the end of Test cricket at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these two days have been given some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The team responded for him, reinstating the joy to his persona.
Emerging talents delivered with key contributions. These are small positives, certainly not enough to ensure long-term futures, but something to build on.
At the very least, this MCG win takes its place among other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the field to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
