In a showcase on the upper level of the MCG is housed a neon pink outfit performed in by the pop star. The show in front of a hundred thousand fans was considered a major hit.
You might not like the performer. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, conceding that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by the environment.
The weather, the hour of play, the ball – the list is endless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the long game is art, the strip is the canvas on which the cricketers create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport dismantled and reassembled in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing excessive grass on the pitch, leading to 36 wickets falling in less than a brief period, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, a long history and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling due to the patience made during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Specific conditions 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.
The format is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and adapting effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by recognized stars. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the devotees who have suffered years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the stadium, a sea of people made noise and sang their songs, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was hope as the attack surged, impetus when players fought back, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has a history with controversial surfaces. Previously, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be found in each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the demise of the format at all," commented a past champion. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players responded for him, bringing back the joy to his face.
Emerging talents delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a foundation to build on.
At the very least, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters left into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the outfield to commence their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. You've earned this one.
