Within a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink outfit worn by the entertainer. The performance in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a major hit.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. You might think he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, conceding that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create literature or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the pitch.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the established format dismantled and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The format is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and ongoing. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Other times, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating because of the patience devoted in other matches.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are accepted more easily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and responding appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by world-class players. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the devotees who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the MCG, thousands waved their flags and sang their songs, generating a festive mood in a stronghold of national pride.
There was optimism as the fielding side dominated, impetus when the top order scored quickly, and unconditional love when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a game there featured a strip with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet value can be ascribed to both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the end of the format at all," said a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some genuine drama. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The players responded for him, restoring the smile to his persona.
New faces delivered with vital performances. These are small positives, certainly not enough to secure long-term success, but a starting point to build on.
At the very least, this MCG win joins other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, men. It's well deserved.
