Displayed inside a showcase on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a neon pink suit performed in by the pop star. The show in front of a massive crowd of fans was hailed as a major hit.
You might not appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some hits are excellent while others are poor.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce music or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the players paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, leading to 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting due to the time committed elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the situation and responding effectively. The top two individual innings were made by recognized stars. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have experienced years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the stadium, thousands celebrated and created an atmosphere, generating a carnival vibe in a stronghold of sport.
There was belief as the attack excelled, advantage when batters responded, and pure joy when the result was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has form with pitch problems. Previously, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are extreme ends of the scale – one is not more the standard, yet value can be found in each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the history books.
"Far from being the end of the long game at all," observed a former player. "Fans who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The squad delivered for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
New faces stepped up with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but something to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this triumph takes its place among other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the fans slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad assembled on the field to commence their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, lads. It's well deserved.
