Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the MCG sits a electric pink outfit worn by the entertainer. His performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was considered a triumph.
You might not like the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some tracks are belting while others are poor.
The key argument is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to create music or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on external factors.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the canvas on which the athletes create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game dismantled and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which resulted in a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Allowing excessive grass on the pitch, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling due to the patience committed during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about problem solving – interpreting the situation and responding accordingly. The two highest individual innings were made by world-class batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the fans who have endured years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the ground, countless fans made noise and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, advantage when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a match there featured a strip with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with few wickets and slow play. This recent match and that slow Test are extreme ends of the range – one is not more the standard, yet value can be attached to them.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," commented a past champion. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his face.
Emerging talents delivered with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term futures, but a starting point to develop from.
Ultimately, this MCG win joins other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans slipped away into a stunning sunset, the team assembled on the field to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
