Displayed inside a display cabinet on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium is housed a electric pink outfit donned by the pop star. The concert in front of 100,024 fans was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. You might think he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a middle ground, conceding that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no one way to create literature or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The elements, the time of day, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is art, the wicket is the foundation on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and stuck back together in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the wicket which resulted in a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, causing a cascade of wickets tumbling 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 footnoted as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, a long history and ongoing. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The close matches are all the more thrilling because of the investment devoted elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the situation and adapting accordingly. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class players. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the MCG, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a carnival vibe in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, advantage when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a strip with the character of a a non-event.
That match was a slog, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that previous match are polar opposites of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to each.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," said a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the leader spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team protected him, bringing back the smile to his face.
Emerging talents stepped up with key contributions. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term success, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters slipped away into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the field to start their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, boys. You've earned this one.
