Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink suit donned by the pop star. The performance in front of a massive crowd of spectators was considered a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy the performer. You might think he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, conceding that some hits are belting while others are poor.
The central idea is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to craft music or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the pitch.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the blank slate on which the players craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, causing numerous dismissals tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The close matches are even more exciting due to the investment committed during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are tolerated more readily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were unable from showcasing their talents.
The format is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the supporters who have endured years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the stadium, a sea of people waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack dominated, advantage when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the victory was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a wicket with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a marathon, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that previous match are extreme ends of the spectrum – neither ideal, yet significance can be found in both.
At this stage into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"Far from being the demise of the format at all," observed a past champion. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The squad delivered for him, restoring the joy to his persona.
Emerging talents stepped up with crucial roles. These are small positives, certainly not enough to secure long-term success, but a foundation to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win joins other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the turf to commence their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, lads. You've earned this one.
