Displayed inside a showcase on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a vibrant pink ensemble worn by the pop star. The show in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a success.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. You might think he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, conceding that some songs are belting while others are poor.
The key argument is that entertainment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to produce art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The elements, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game dismantled and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing a thick layer on the wicket, resulting in a cascade of wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
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 inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, a long history and still growing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating owing to the investment devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are embraced more readily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were hindered from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the situation and adjusting effectively. The top two individual innings were made by recognized players. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the fans who have suffered 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people celebrated and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers dominated, impetus when the top order responded, and rapturous celebration when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with all the life of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a slog, with limited drama and slow play. The latest encounter and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the range – neither perfect, yet significance can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the history books.
"Far from being the death of Test cricket at all," said a past champion. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the captain talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The squad responded for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, not nearly enough to secure long-term success, but a starting point to build on.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans departed into a stunning sunset, the players congregated on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, boys. It's well deserved.
