Within a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink ensemble donned by the pop star. His show in front of a hundred thousand spectators was considered a success.
It's possible you enjoy his music. You might think he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, conceding that some tracks are belting while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to produce literature or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which yielded a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Allowing excessive grass on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and ongoing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it turns square on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating owing to the time devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The True Test
Some factors are embraced more freely than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was tipped too far towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the conditions and responding effectively. The two highest individual innings were made by acknowledged players. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the MCG, countless fans waved their flags and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a heartland of sport.
There was belief as the fielding side surged, impetus when players fought back, and pure joy when the victory was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has a history with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a game there featured a pitch with all the life of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a grind, with limited drama and slow play. This recent match and that previous match are extreme ends of the range – one is not more ideal, yet significance can be ascribed to each.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the captain talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The squad responded for him, reinstating the smile to his persona.
Emerging talents delivered with key contributions. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to secure long-term stability, but something to develop from.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory is added to other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the team assembled on the field to commence their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
