In a showcase on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a neon pink suit performed in by the entertainer. His show in front of a hundred thousand fans was considered a triumph.
Perhaps you don't like his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are terrible.
The point being is that amusement can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to create art or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the session, the ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the long game is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game dismantled and stuck back together in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Having excessive grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. In contrast, it spins sharply on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting because of the time made in other matches.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are tolerated more easily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the top batters were unable from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The top two individual innings were made by world-class batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the ground, thousands made noise and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the bowlers surged, impetus when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with controversial surfaces. In the past, a game there featured a strip with the character of a a non-event.
That contest was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the range – both are not perfect, yet value can be ascribed to both.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the history books.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," said a veteran. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The squad protected him, bringing back the joy to his countenance.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are baby steps, hardly enough to guarantee long-term success, but a starting point to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this triumph is added to other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team assembled on the field to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
