In a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. His concert in front of 100,024 fans was considered a success.
You might not appreciate the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some songs are excellent while others are terrible.
The central idea is that enjoyment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to produce music or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by external factors.
The elements, the session, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the strip is the canvas on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a defence of the surface which resulted in a win and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing excessive grass on the surface, resulting in numerous dismissals tumbling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and still growing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. In contrast, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling due to the time committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were prevented from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – assessing the situation and responding appropriately. The two highest individual innings were made by world-class batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the fans who have experienced a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the MCG, a sea of people celebrated and sang their songs, producing a carnival vibe in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the bowlers excelled, advantage when batters responded, and pure joy when the result was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with difficult wickets. In the past, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a a damp squib.
That match was a slog, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the range – neither ideal, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," commented a former player. "Fans who have been privileged to see these short time have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The team delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his face.
Different players delivered with vital performances. These are small positives, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a starting point to develop from.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters left into a stunning sunset, the squad gathered on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, lads. You've earned this one.
