Displayed inside a glass case on the third floor of the MCG rests a vibrant pink ensemble worn by the pop star. His show in front of 100,024 attendees was considered a success.
You might not enjoy his music. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some tracks are fantastic while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to create art or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the athletes create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was the game deconstructed, the great game broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a justification of the pitch which yielded a win and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the surface, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and still growing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are particularly captivating because of the investment made in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was tipped too far towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and adjusting effectively. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged players. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the fans who have suffered years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the stadium, a sea of people made noise and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was hope as the fielding side excelled, momentum when players responded, and unconditional love when the result was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has form with difficult wickets. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that slow Test are extreme ends of the scale – neither the standard, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the memory.
"This isn't the death of the format at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The squad delivered for him, restoring the joy to his persona.
New faces delivered with vital performances. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a foundation to develop from.
Ultimately, this triumph joins other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a beautiful night, the squad gathered on the field to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. It's well deserved.
