Displayed inside a showcase on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a electric pink ensemble donned by the pop star. His concert in front of a massive crowd of fans was considered a major hit.
Perhaps you don't appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, admitting that some songs are belting while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create music or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The climate, the session, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a win and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Leaving excessive grass on the surface, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion 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. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the investment made during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are accepted more easily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the contest was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and adjusting appropriately. The two highest individual innings were made by acknowledged batters. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the fans who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the MCG, countless fans celebrated and chanted, fostering a carnival vibe in a stronghold of national pride.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, impetus when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was achieved.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a wicket with the character of a a non-event.
That match was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the memory.
"Far from being the death of the long game at all," said a veteran. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this Test, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a starting point to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this triumph takes its place among other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans left into a stunning sunset, the squad gathered on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
