In a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a neon pink outfit donned by the pop star. His show in front of a hundred thousand fans was seen as a major hit.
Perhaps you don't like the performer. You might think he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some hits are fantastic while others are poor.
The point being is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to create art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by external factors.
The weather, the session, the red ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the blank slate on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the pitch which resulted in a victory and the another short match of the series.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the surface, causing 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The format is a varied portfolio, a long history and still growing. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. In contrast, it turns square on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are particularly captivating due to the patience committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the situation and responding effectively. The two highest individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the MCG, countless fans made noise and chanted, generating a festive mood in a bastion of sport.
There was belief as the attack excelled, advantage when players fought back, and pure joy when the victory was achieved.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with difficult wickets. In the past, a match there featured a strip with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a grind, with few wickets and slow play. This recent match and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the scale – neither perfect, yet value can be found in them.
At this stage into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"This isn't the death of the long game at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team delivered for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his face.
New faces delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to ensure long-term futures, but a foundation to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this MCG win takes its place among other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the field to start their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, lads. You've earned this one.
