Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a neon pink ensemble donned by the entertainer. His performance in front of a massive crowd of attendees was hailed as a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create art or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on the environment.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the blank slate on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the pitch which resulted in a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Having excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and counting. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are particularly captivating because of the investment devoted during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the wicket and adapting appropriately. The best individual innings were made by recognized batters. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the fans who have experienced years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the stadium, a sea of people waved their flags and chanted, producing a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the attack dominated, momentum when the top order responded, and pure joy when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Previously, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a slog, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that slow Test are polar opposites of the spectrum – both are not ideal, yet value can be ascribed to both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," commented a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory joins other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team gathered on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
