Within a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink outfit donned by the pop star. The performance in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a triumph.
You might not enjoy his music. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some hits are fantastic while others are terrible.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no one way to craft art or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The climate, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the long game is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the athletes create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the great game broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the wicket which resulted in a triumph and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Having 10mm of grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
The format is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The close matches are all the more thrilling because of the patience made in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – reading the wicket and adapting effectively. The best individual contributions were made by acknowledged players. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the supporters who have suffered years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the ground, a sea of people waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack dominated, momentum when batters scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a game there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that slow Test are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the history books.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team delivered for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Different players stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to secure long-term stability, but a foundation to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad gathered on the field to start their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
