In a showcase on the elevated floor of the MCG is housed a electric pink ensemble performed in by the entertainer. His performance in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a triumph.
It's possible you like the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, admitting that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The key argument is that enjoyment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is not a single method to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by the environment.
The climate, the time of day, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format taken to pieces and stuck back together in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the pitch which resulted in a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the surface, causing a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
The format is a diverse canvas, a long history and still growing. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the time made elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are tolerated more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were prevented from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the wicket and adjusting effectively. The best individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Try telling the supporters who have suffered 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the MCG, countless fans celebrated and sang their songs, generating a festive mood in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the fielding side dominated, momentum when batters scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a Test 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 two-day game and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be attached to each.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the memory.
"It's not the demise of the format at all," observed a past champion. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the captain spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad responded for him, restoring the joy to his face.
Different players delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but a starting point to use as a platform.
At the very least, this triumph joins other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters slipped away into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the outfield to start their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
