Within a glass case on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink ensemble donned by the pop star. The performance in front of 100,024 fans was seen as a triumph.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some hits are excellent while others are terrible.
The key argument is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to create music or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by conditions.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the long game is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport taken to pieces and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which produced a triumph and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing excessive grass on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is incorrect.
The format is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball moves excessively for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are particularly captivating due to the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Some factors are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – assessing the situation and adapting effectively. The two highest individual innings were made by world-class stars. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the devotees who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the ground, countless fans waved their flags and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was optimism as the fielding side dominated, momentum when players responded, and pure joy when the win was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a strip with the character of a a non-event.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the scale – one is not more the standard, yet historical weight can be found in them.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the end of the format at all," observed a former player. "Fans who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this Test, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team protected him, restoring the smile to his persona.
New faces stepped up with crucial roles. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to ensure long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
At the very least, this triumph joins other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team gathered on the turf to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
