Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a neon pink outfit performed in by the entertainer. The show in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, admitting that some songs are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no one way to create music or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by external factors.
The weather, the session, the ball – the list is endless. Most important is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the strip is the foundation on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the great game dismantled and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The format is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and ongoing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the seamers. In contrast, it spins sharply on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the investment committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Some factors are tolerated more freely than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the top batters were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – assessing the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the MCG, countless fans celebrated and sang their songs, producing a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack dominated, momentum when the top order fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with difficult wickets. Previously, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a grind, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the range – both are not perfect, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the demise of the format at all," commented a veteran. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these two days have been experienced some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this Test, the captain spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players delivered for him, restoring the joy to his persona.
New faces stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term success, but a starting point to build on.
At the very least, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the turf to commence their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, lads. It's well deserved.
