Displayed inside a glass case on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink outfit donned by the pop star. His performance in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't like the performer. You might think he is the ultimate present to music in history. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, conceding that some tracks are fantastic while others are poor.
The key argument is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create literature or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on external factors.
The weather, the time of day, the ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the wicket.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the canvas on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport dismantled and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the wicket which resulted in a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the pitch, resulting in a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating due to the time committed during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Certain variables are embraced more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and responding accordingly. The two highest individual innings were made by acknowledged players. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the devotees who have endured years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the stadium, a sea of people celebrated and chanted, fostering a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the fielding side excelled, advantage when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with difficult wickets. Previously, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – neither perfect, yet value can be attached to them.
At this stage into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the end of Test cricket at all," said a past champion. "Fans who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been treated to some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The squad responded for him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his persona.
Different players performed with crucial roles. These are small positives, certainly not enough to secure long-term success, but something to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the players assembled on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
