Within a glass case on the elevated floor of the MCG sits a neon pink suit worn by the pop star. The show in front of a hundred thousand spectators was hailed as a triumph.
You might not enjoy his music. You might think he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a balanced view, conceding that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The point being is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to craft art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on the environment.
The climate, the session, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the foundation on which the athletes create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the wicket which yielded a victory and the another short match of the contest.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is incorrect.
The format is a rich tapestry, a long history and ongoing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the patience devoted in other matches.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the best players were hindered from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the situation and adjusting accordingly. The best individual contributions were made by recognized stars. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the fans who have experienced years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the ground, thousands made noise and sang their songs, fostering a party atmosphere in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the bowlers surged, advantage when batters scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a strip with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that slow Test are extreme ends of the scale – both are not the standard, yet significance can be attached to each.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the memory.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," observed a veteran. "Fans who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some genuine drama. A unique show."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his persona.
Different players performed with vital performances. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but something to build on.
In the end, this triumph takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the squad assembled on the outfield to begin their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
