Within a glass case on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a neon pink ensemble donned by the pop star. The concert in front of 100,024 attendees was seen as a major hit.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. You might think he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, admitting that some songs are belting while others are awful.
The central idea is that entertainment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to produce literature or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by the environment.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the foundation on which the cricketers create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game broken apart and reassembled in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which yielded a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the pitch, causing a cascade of wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. In contrast, it turns square on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are even more exciting because of the time committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Specific conditions are embraced more freely than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the top batters were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adapting effectively. The top two individual scores were made by recognized players. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the MCG, countless fans made noise and sang their songs, producing a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the bowlers excelled, momentum when the top order fought back, and pure joy when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a game there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and endless boredom. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the scale – both are not perfect, yet significance can be found in each.
At this stage into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"It's not the demise of the long game at all," observed a past champion. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The team protected him, reinstating the smile to his countenance.
New faces performed with vital performances. These are baby steps, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
In the end, this triumph is added to other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd departed into a stunning sunset, the players assembled on the field to commence their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, men. It's well deserved.
