Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium is housed a neon pink outfit worn by the pop star. His concert in front of a hundred thousand fans was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't appreciate the performer. You might think he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are terrible.
The key argument is that enjoyment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the wicket.
If the format is art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the players craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
This is not a justification of the surface which yielded a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the surface, causing a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are particularly captivating because of the investment devoted in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Some factors are embraced more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
The format is about problem solving – reading the wicket and responding accordingly. The top two individual scores were made by acknowledged stars. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Try telling the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the stadium, countless fans celebrated and created an atmosphere, producing a party atmosphere in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the bowlers surged, impetus when batters fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with controversial surfaces. In the past, a game there featured a strip with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that previous match are extreme ends of the scale – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the end of Test cricket at all," observed a past champion. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The team responded for him, restoring the joy to his face.
Different players stepped up with key contributions. These are baby steps, hardly enough to ensure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
At the very least, this triumph is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team congregated on the outfield to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, men. This victory was hard-fought.
