Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink outfit worn by the entertainer. The show in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a triumph.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. You might think he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. You might take a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are belting while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no one way to create music or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon the environment.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport dismantled and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the wicket which produced a triumph and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, leading to numerous dismissals falling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting owing to the investment committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Some factors are embraced more freely than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from showcasing their talents.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the wicket and responding appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by world-class batters. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the supporters who have suffered years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the ground, a sea of people celebrated and sang their songs, generating a festive mood in a stronghold of sport.
There was belief as the fielding side dominated, momentum when players fought back, and pure joy when the result was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with pitch problems. Previously, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – both are not ideal, yet value can be ascribed to each.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the history books.
"This isn't the death of the format at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The squad delivered for him, reinstating the joy to his face.
Emerging talents performed with crucial roles. These are small positives, certainly not enough to ensure long-term futures, but something to build on.
At the very least, this triumph is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players gathered on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
