Within a display cabinet on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a electric pink outfit donned by the entertainer. His concert in front of a massive crowd of spectators was hailed as a major hit.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some tracks are belting while others are awful.
The key argument is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no one way to craft art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on conditions.
The weather, the session, the ball – the list is endless. Most important is the wicket.
If the long game is art, the pitch is the foundation on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a defence of the surface which produced a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Leaving excessive grass on the pitch, resulting in 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it turns square on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating because of the patience made elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Some factors are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and adapting effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by acknowledged players. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Try telling the supporters who have experienced years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the stadium, a sea of people made noise and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a heartland of national pride.
There was hope as the bowlers dominated, advantage when players responded, and pure joy when the win was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a grind, with limited drama and interminable tedium. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the range – both are not the standard, yet historical weight can be attached to each.
At this stage into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the memory.
"This isn't the end of Test cricket at all," said a veteran. "Fans who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this match, the captain spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The team responded for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Different players delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to secure long-term stability, but a starting point to use as a platform.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players gathered on the turf to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. It's well deserved.
