Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. The performance in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a success.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. You might think he is the greatest gift to music in history. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, conceding that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The key argument is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on the environment.
The weather, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the pitch.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the players create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the established format broken apart and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a justification of the pitch which yielded a triumph and the another short match of the series.
Having excessive grass on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The long game is a varied portfolio, a long history and counting. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the patience devoted in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were hindered from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – interpreting the conditions and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by world-class players. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Try telling the fans who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people celebrated and sang their songs, producing a festive mood in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the fielding side excelled, momentum when players fought back, and pure joy when the win was achieved.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that slow Test are extreme ends of the range – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be attached to both.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the demise of the format at all," observed a veteran. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been treated to some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team protected him, restoring the smile to his face.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are baby steps, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but something to build on.
In the end, this MCG win joins other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd departed into a beautiful night, the team assembled on the field to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
