Displayed inside a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink outfit donned by the entertainer. The concert in front of a hundred thousand spectators was considered a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a middle ground, conceding that some songs are excellent while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create music or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the blank slate on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which produced a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea 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 diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting because of the patience committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are tolerated more easily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about problem solving – reading the conditions and responding effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the ground, thousands made noise and created an atmosphere, producing a carnival vibe in a heartland of sport.
There was optimism as the fielding side surged, advantage when players responded, and pure joy when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a match there featured a strip with the character of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that previous match are extreme ends of the spectrum – neither perfect, yet historical weight can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the captain talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The team responded for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his persona.
Different players delivered with crucial roles. These are baby steps, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but a starting point to build on.
In the end, this triumph joins other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters left into a stunning sunset, the team congregated on the turf to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
