Within a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink outfit worn by the pop star. The show in front of a massive crowd of fans was seen as a triumph.
Perhaps you don't appreciate his music. You might think he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, admitting that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to craft art or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on external factors.
The climate, the session, the ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the foundation on which the cricketers create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and reassembled in an unusual manner.
This is not a defence of the wicket which produced a victory and the another short match of the series.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and ongoing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Other times, it spins sharply on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting owing to the patience committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are embraced more readily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the balance was tipped too far towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the situation and adapting effectively. The two highest individual scores were made by recognized players. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the supporters who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the stadium, countless fans waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack excelled, momentum when batters responded, and unconditional love when the win was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to each.
At this stage into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the history books.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," said a former player. "The people who have been fortunate to see these two days have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The squad delivered for him, bringing back the smile to his face.
New faces delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term success, but something to build on.
In the end, this triumph joins other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd left into a stunning sunset, the squad gathered on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. You've earned this one.
