Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the MCG is housed a vibrant pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. The show in front of a hundred thousand spectators was seen as a triumph.
You might not appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, conceding that some hits are fantastic while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to craft literature or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on external factors.
The weather, the time of day, the ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the strip is the blank slate on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game dismantled and stuck back together in abstract form.
This is not a defence of the wicket which produced a triumph and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
The format is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the patience committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more easily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the conditions and responding appropriately. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the devotees who have endured a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the stadium, a sea of people made noise and chanted, fostering a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was hope as the attack dominated, advantage when players responded, and pure joy when the victory was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a game there featured a wicket with the character of a a damp squib.
That contest was a marathon, with few wickets and slow play. This recent match and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the range – one is not more ideal, yet significance can be found in them.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"It's not the end of the long game at all," observed a veteran. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been treated to some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The squad responded for him, bringing back the smile to his persona.
Emerging talents delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a starting point to develop from.
Ultimately, this MCG win joins other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a stunning sunset, the players congregated on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
