Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink outfit worn by the pop star. The concert in front of a hundred thousand spectators was considered a triumph.
Perhaps you don't like the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that entertainment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce art or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the wicket.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the blank slate on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and reassembled in abstract form.
This is not a justification of the pitch which produced a triumph and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Having 10mm of grass on the surface, resulting in numerous dismissals falling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it turns square on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are particularly captivating because of the time committed elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Some factors are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in during the match was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the best players were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – reading the situation and adapting appropriately. The best individual innings were made by acknowledged stars. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the supporters who have suffered a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the attack dominated, momentum when the top order responded, and unconditional love when the win was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has form with pitch problems. Previously, a match there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That match was a marathon, with limited drama and slow play. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the range – one is not more ideal, yet historical weight can be attached to each.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the quick finishes that will remain iconic in the history books.
"Far from being the demise of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The squad protected him, restoring the smile to his face.
Emerging talents delivered with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a starting point to use as a platform.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the turf to begin their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
