In a showcase on the upper level of the MCG sits a electric pink outfit performed in by the entertainer. The performance in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a major hit.
You might not enjoy the performer. You might think he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to produce art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon conditions.
The elements, the session, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the established format broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the surface, causing a cascade of wickets falling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it turns square on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling due to the time committed in other matches.
Adjustment: The True Test
Some factors are embraced more readily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the wicket and adapting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class players. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have endured a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the stadium, a sea of people celebrated and sang their songs, fostering a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the fielding side surged, advantage when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Previously, a game there featured a strip with the excitement of a a non-event.
That match was a marathon, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that slow Test are extreme ends of the spectrum – neither the standard, yet historical weight can be found in them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of the format at all," said a veteran. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The players protected him, reinstating the smile to his face.
Different players performed with vital performances. These are small positives, not nearly enough to secure long-term futures, but something to develop from.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory joins other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
