Within a glass case on the third floor of the MCG sits a neon pink suit performed in by the entertainer. His performance in front of 100,024 attendees was seen as a major hit.
It's possible you enjoy his music. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a balanced view, acknowledging that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The central idea is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to produce art or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon the environment.
The climate, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the wicket.
If the long game is a form of art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the players create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the established format taken to pieces and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the pitch which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the pitch, resulting in numerous dismissals tumbling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the patience made during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Some factors are accepted more freely than others.
The argument in during the match was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The two highest individual scores were made by recognized batters. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a party atmosphere in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers surged, advantage when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with difficult wickets. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with few wickets and endless boredom. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be found in each.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the death of the format at all," commented a former player. "Fans who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some real entertainment. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his persona.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a starting point to build on.
In the end, this triumph is added to other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a stunning sunset, the squad assembled on the field to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
