Displayed inside a showcase on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink outfit donned by the pop star. His performance in front of 100,024 attendees was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, conceding that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no one way to create music or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon conditions.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the pitch.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the wicket is the canvas on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport taken to pieces and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the surface which resulted in a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the pitch, leading to 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the time devoted elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – assessing the situation and responding accordingly. The top two individual contributions were made by recognized players. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have suffered years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the MCG, thousands celebrated and created an atmosphere, producing a carnival vibe in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the fielding side excelled, momentum when players scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has a history with pitch problems. Previously, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the scale – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the memory.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," observed a veteran. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this Test, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad protected him, reinstating the smile to his countenance.
Emerging talents delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a starting point to build on.
At the very least, this MCG win takes its place among other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team assembled on the outfield to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
