Displayed inside a showcase on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink outfit donned by the entertainer. The performance in front of 100,024 fans was hailed as a major hit.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some songs are excellent while others are poor.
The point being is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no one way to produce music or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the list is endless. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the players craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and reassembled in an unusual manner.
This is not a defence of the pitch which produced a victory and the second two-day Test of the series.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and counting. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the investment committed elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Some factors are accepted more easily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about adapting to challenges – reading the wicket and adapting effectively. The best individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the fans who have endured years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a carnival vibe in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the fielding side excelled, impetus when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has form with pitch problems. Previously, a match there featured a pitch with the character of a a non-event.
That match was a slog, with few wickets and endless boredom. The two-day game and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
At this stage into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the history books.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," commented a veteran. "Fans who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team responded for him, bringing back the joy to his persona.
Emerging talents performed with crucial roles. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a starting point to develop from.
Ultimately, this triumph joins other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a beautiful night, the squad assembled on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
