Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink outfit performed in by the pop star. The concert in front of 100,024 fans was hailed as a triumph.
You might not appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, admitting that some tracks are fantastic while others are terrible.
The central idea is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to create art or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum 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 elements, the session, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the players craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which resulted in a win and the second two-day Test of the series.
Leaving a thick layer on the pitch, causing 36 wickets falling in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Some factors are tolerated more freely than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the wicket and adapting effectively. The two highest individual innings were made by recognized stars. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the supporters who have endured a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the ground, countless fans waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a heartland of national pride.
There was belief as the fielding side excelled, advantage when batters responded, and pure joy when the victory was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with controversial surfaces. Previously, a game there featured a wicket with the character of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the history books.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," commented a past champion. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been experienced some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The squad delivered for him, reinstating the smile to his persona.
Different players delivered with vital performances. These are baby steps, hardly enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to develop from.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory joins other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the turf to begin their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, men. It's well deserved.
