Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a neon pink ensemble donned by the pop star. The performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was seen as a major hit.
Perhaps you don't appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are poor.
The point being is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to produce literature or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on the environment.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in a cascade of wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it turns square on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The close matches are all the more thrilling because of the time committed in other matches.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the contest was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the situation and adapting accordingly. The top two individual innings were made by world-class batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Attempt to convince the fans who have suffered years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans celebrated and sang their songs, producing a festive mood in a bastion of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers surged, advantage when players fought back, and rapturous celebration when the result was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with difficult wickets. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that slow Test are polar opposites of the scale – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players protected him, reinstating the smile to his face.
Emerging talents delivered with vital performances. These are small positives, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a foundation to develop from.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory joins other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team assembled on the outfield to commence their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
