Within a showcase on the upper level of the MCG rests a neon pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. The performance in front of a massive crowd of attendees was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some songs are excellent while others are poor.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is no one way to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on conditions.
The elements, the session, the ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the wicket.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the wicket is the canvas on which the cricketers create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game dismantled and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which resulted in a win and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, leading to a cascade of wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, a long history and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the seamers. Other times, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are even more exciting owing to the investment devoted elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the best players were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class players. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the devotees who have suffered years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and chanted, generating a festive mood in a heartland of national pride.
There was hope as the fielding side surged, impetus when batters scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. Previously, a game there featured a pitch with the character of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with few wickets and slow play. This recent match and that slow Test are extreme ends of the scale – neither the standard, yet historical weight can be found in both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the demise of the long game at all," said a past champion. "Fans who have been privileged to see these two days have been given some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team responded for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
New faces delivered with key contributions. These are small positives, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term success, but something to use as a platform.
In the end, this triumph is added to other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the field to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, men. It's well deserved.
