In a showcase on the elevated floor of the MCG sits a vibrant pink ensemble donned by the entertainer. The performance in front of a hundred thousand spectators was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't like his music. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some hits are excellent while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to produce art or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon external factors.
The elements, the time of day, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the wicket.
If the format is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the pitch which yielded a victory and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing excessive grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and ongoing. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the patience devoted in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Specific conditions are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – reading the wicket and responding accordingly. The two highest individual contributions were made by recognized stars. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have suffered 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the MCG, a sea of people waved their flags and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was hope as the attack surged, advantage when players fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that slow Test are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither perfect, yet value can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the death of the format at all," observed a veteran. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been treated to some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the leader talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The squad delivered for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his persona.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are baby steps, hardly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this MCG win joins other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters slipped away into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
