In a showcase on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a vibrant pink outfit donned by the entertainer. The performance in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a success.
Perhaps you don't like his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Or you could adopt a middle ground, admitting that some tracks are fantastic while others are terrible.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no one way to produce music or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon external factors.
The climate, the session, the ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the playing surface.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the canvas on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
This is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Leaving excessive grass on the surface, resulting in a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The long game is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and ongoing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the investment devoted during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adapting accordingly. The two highest individual contributions were made by recognized stars. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the ground, thousands made noise and chanted, producing a festive mood in a stronghold of sport.
There was belief as the bowlers excelled, momentum when players fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has form with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a wicket with the character of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the scale – neither ideal, yet significance can be found in them.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the memory.
"It's not the demise of the long game at all," observed a veteran. "Fans who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The team protected him, restoring the joy to his face.
New faces performed with crucial roles. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to secure long-term futures, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a stunning sunset, the team assembled on the turf to start their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, men. You've earned this one.
