Displayed inside a glass case on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink suit worn by the entertainer. His performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was hailed as a triumph.
You might not enjoy his music. You might think he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, acknowledging that some hits are fantastic while others are poor.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no one way to craft music or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on the environment.
The climate, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the playing surface.
If the format is art, the strip is the blank slate on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game taken to pieces and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the pitch which yielded a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and counting. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating due to the investment made elsewhere.
Adjustment: The True Test
Certain variables are tolerated more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the balance was tipped too far towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and responding accordingly. The two highest individual innings were made by acknowledged players. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the supporters who have suffered years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, a sea of people celebrated and sang their songs, fostering a party atmosphere in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack dominated, advantage when the top order fought back, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with few wickets and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – neither perfect, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the death of the format at all," said a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this Test, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad responded for him, reinstating the smile to his persona.
Emerging talents stepped up with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term success, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a beautiful night, the squad congregated on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, men. This victory was hard-fought.
