In a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink ensemble donned by the pop star. His show in front of a hundred thousand spectators was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. You might think he is the greatest gift to music in history. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are poor.
The point being is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create music or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If the long game is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the wicket which produced a win and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the pitch, causing numerous dismissals tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it turns square on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating due to the time made in other matches.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Some factors are tolerated more readily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and adjusting effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the devotees who have endured years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the ground, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, generating a festive mood in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the fielding side excelled, impetus when batters scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with difficult wickets. In the past, a game there featured a wicket with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are polar opposites of the range – neither ideal, yet historical weight can be found in both.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"This isn't the demise of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been treated to some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this match, the captain spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Different players performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term success, but something to build on.
In the end, this triumph takes its place among other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the field to commence their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
