Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the MCG sits a electric pink outfit donned by the pop star. The show in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a triumph.
It's possible you like the performer. You might think he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a middle ground, conceding that some tracks are belting while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is no one way to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by the environment.
The weather, the session, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is art, the wicket is the foundation on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which produced a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, causing a cascade of wickets falling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a varied portfolio, a long history and ongoing. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the patience made elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the top batters were prevented from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the situation and adapting effectively. The top two individual innings were made by world-class batters. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the devotees who have experienced 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a heartland of sport.
There was belief as the attack excelled, momentum when players scored quickly, and pure joy when the result was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a a damp squib.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and endless boredom. This recent match and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the end of Test cricket at all," said a former player. "The people who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been given some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this match, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad responded for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Emerging talents performed with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this triumph is added to other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the outfield to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
