Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the MCG sits a neon pink outfit worn by the entertainer. His show in front of a massive crowd of attendees was hailed as a major hit.
Perhaps you don't appreciate his music. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, admitting that some tracks are fantastic while others are poor.
The key argument is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no one way to produce literature or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the session, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the players paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport taken to pieces and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which resulted in a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Having 10mm of grass on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, a long history and ongoing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the time committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are tolerated more freely than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about problem solving – assessing the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The two highest individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the devotees who have suffered a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the stadium, thousands made noise and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a stronghold of national pride.
There was hope as the attack dominated, impetus when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has a history with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a match there featured a strip with all the life of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a grind, with few wickets and endless boredom. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the spectrum – one is not more ideal, yet value can be attached to them.
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 the format at all," said a veteran. "Fans who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been given some real entertainment. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team protected him, bringing back the joy to his face.
Different players stepped up with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad assembled on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
