Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. The performance in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a success.
It's possible you enjoy the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create literature or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon the environment.
The climate, the hour of play, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the wicket.
If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the foundation on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which yielded a victory and the another short match of the series.
Having excessive grass on the pitch, resulting in a cascade of wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a varied portfolio, a long history and ongoing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it spins sharply on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the patience committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Specific conditions are accepted more easily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was tipped too far towards the fielding side. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and adapting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the devotees who have endured years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the stadium, a sea of people celebrated and sang their songs, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was optimism as the attack dominated, impetus when the top order scored quickly, and unconditional love when the result was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. Previously, a Test there featured a strip with all the life of a a damp squib.
That match was a marathon, with limited drama and endless boredom. This recent match and that previous match are extreme ends of the range – neither ideal, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the history books.
"It's not the end of the format at all," said a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been given some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the captain talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players delivered for him, restoring the joy to his persona.
Emerging talents delivered with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term success, but something to build on.
At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters left into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the field to commence their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
