Within a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a neon pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. His performance in front of a massive crowd of attendees was considered a success.
It's possible you like his music. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some songs are belting while others are poor.
The key argument is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to produce music or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the pitch.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the blank slate on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
This is not a justification of the surface which produced a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Allowing excessive grass on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The long game is a diverse canvas, a long history and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the time devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The True Test
Some factors are tolerated more freely than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class players. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Try telling the devotees who have endured years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was belief as the bowlers dominated, momentum when batters fought back, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with pitch problems. In the past, a game there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a marathon, with limited drama and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that previous match are extreme ends of the scale – both are not ideal, yet significance can be attached to them.
At this stage into the current series, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of the long game at all," commented a former player. "Fans who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some real entertainment. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The squad responded for him, restoring the joy to his countenance.
Different players delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term success, but a starting point to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this MCG win is added to other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the players assembled on the field to begin their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, men. It's well deserved.