Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the MCG rests a electric pink ensemble donned by the entertainer. His performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was considered a triumph.
You might not like the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are terrible.
The point being is that enjoyment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is not a single method to craft music or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the time of day, the ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the wicket.
If the long game is a form of art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport taken to pieces and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another short match of the contest.
Having a thick layer on the pitch, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are even more exciting because of the investment committed elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – assessing the wicket and adapting appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by recognized stars. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the ground, thousands waved their flags and sang their songs, producing a festive mood in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the fielding side dominated, momentum when the top order scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a match there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a marathon, with limited drama and endless boredom. The two-day game and that slow Test are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the death of the format at all," said a past champion. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players responded for him, restoring the smile to his face.
Emerging talents performed with vital performances. These are small positives, hardly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters slipped away into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
