Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink suit worn by the pop star. The show in front of a massive crowd of fans was considered a success.
You might not appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, conceding that some tracks are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to produce literature or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The climate, the session, the red ball – the list is endless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the canvas on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the surface, leading to 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. In contrast, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are even more exciting because of the investment committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Specific conditions are accepted more freely than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the conditions and adapting effectively. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the devotees who have experienced a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and chanted, generating a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the attack surged, momentum when players fought back, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement of a a non-event.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be attached to each.
At this stage into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the death of Test cricket at all," commented a past champion. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players responded for him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his persona.
Different players delivered with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to secure long-term futures, but a starting point to develop from.
Ultimately, this MCG win takes its place among other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the outfield to commence their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, boys. It's well deserved.
