Within a showcase on the third floor of the MCG is housed a electric pink outfit donned by the pop star. His concert in front of 100,024 fans was hailed as a major hit.
You might not appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some tracks are belting while others are awful.
The central idea is that entertainment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no one way to create music or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by conditions.
The climate, the time of day, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the pitch is the canvas on which the players create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the great game broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which produced a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the wicket, causing a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and still growing. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are tolerated more freely than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The best individual contributions were made by world-class stars. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the supporters who have endured a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the MCG, a sea of people made noise and chanted, generating a carnival vibe in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the attack excelled, impetus when the top order fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a a damp squib.
That contest was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the range – neither the standard, yet historical weight can be attached to them.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the history books.
"This isn't the death of the format at all," observed a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these two days have been treated to some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The players responded for him, bringing back the joy to his countenance.
New faces delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the players assembled on the turf to commence their own festivities.
Savour the moment, boys. It's well deserved.
