Within a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink outfit performed in by the pop star. His show in front of a massive crowd of spectators was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, conceding that some songs are excellent while others are terrible.
The central idea is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to produce art or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on external factors.
The weather, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the pitch.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the players paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the established format taken to pieces and stuck back together in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the wicket which yielded a victory and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The format is a varied portfolio, a long history and counting. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it turns square on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating due to the investment made elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Certain variables are tolerated more freely than others.
The debate in during the match was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The best individual contributions were made by recognized batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the devotees who have experienced years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the MCG, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the fielding side excelled, impetus when the top order responded, and pure joy when the win was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. In the past, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a a non-event.
That fixture was a slog, with few wickets and slow play. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the history books.
"It's not the end of the format at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been experienced some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players protected him, restoring the joy to his face.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term futures, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the field to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
