In a showcase on the third floor of the MCG sits a electric pink ensemble donned by the pop star. His show in front of 100,024 fans was hailed as a success.
Perhaps you don't like his music. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, conceding that some songs are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no one way to craft art or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by the environment.
The weather, the time of day, the red ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If Test cricket is art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the established format broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the surface which produced a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, leading to 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the investment made in other matches.
Adjustment: The True Test
Certain variables are embraced more freely than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and responding effectively. The best individual innings were made by acknowledged stars. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Attempt to convince the supporters who have suffered a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the ground, countless fans celebrated and created an atmosphere, generating a party atmosphere in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack surged, advantage when the top order responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a pitch with the character of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a marathon, with few wickets and slow play. The two-day game and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be found in them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the history books.
"This isn't the end of the format at all," said a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these short time have been treated to some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team responded for him, restoring the smile to his countenance.
New faces delivered with crucial roles. These are small positives, hardly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a starting point to build on.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a stunning sunset, the players congregated on the turf to begin their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, men. You've earned this one.
