In a showcase on the third floor of the MCG rests a electric pink ensemble worn by the pop star. His concert in front of 100,024 attendees was considered a triumph.
Perhaps you don't like the performer. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. You might take a balanced view, conceding that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to produce art or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on external factors.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the long game is a form of art, the strip is the canvas on which the players craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and stuck back together in an unusual manner.
This is not a justification of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Having excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the investment committed elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are accepted more readily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – assessing the situation and adjusting appropriately. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged stars. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the devotees who have suffered a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack surged, momentum when batters fought back, and pure joy when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the scale – neither perfect, yet historical weight can be attached to both.
At this stage into the current series, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the end of the long game at all," observed a veteran. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this match, the captain talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad protected him, reinstating the smile to his countenance.
Emerging talents performed with vital performances. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to ensure long-term success, but something to use as a platform.
At the very least, this MCG win joins other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd left into a stunning sunset, the team assembled on the turf to commence their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, lads. You've earned this one.
