Within a glass case on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink ensemble donned by the entertainer. His concert in front of a massive crowd of spectators was hailed as a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy his music. You might think he is the greatest gift to music in history. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no one way to produce music or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by external factors.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the wicket.
If the long game is a form of art, the strip is the foundation on which the athletes craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the established format broken apart and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
This is not a justification of the surface which produced a victory and the second two-day Test of the series.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the surface, resulting in numerous dismissals being taken in less than two days, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are particularly captivating due to the time committed elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the situation and adjusting effectively. The best individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the fans who have endured a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the stadium, thousands made noise and sang their songs, fostering a festive mood in a stronghold of national pride.
There was belief as the attack excelled, momentum when batters fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a slog, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that slow Test are extreme ends of the scale – neither ideal, yet significance can be attached to them.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of the long game at all," observed a past champion. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these short time have been given some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team protected him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Different players performed with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term success, but a starting point to use as a platform.
At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans slipped away into a stunning sunset, the players congregated on the outfield to start their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
