Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink outfit donned by the pop star. The performance in front of a massive crowd of fans was considered a triumph.
It's possible you like his music. You might think he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, conceding that some hits are fantastic while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to create art or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the pitch.
If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the canvas on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which yielded a victory and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, resulting in numerous dismissals 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 idea this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the fast men. In contrast, it turns square 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 due to the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are accepted more easily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – reading the conditions and adapting appropriately. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged stars. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the devotees who have endured 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the ground, a sea of people made noise and chanted, fostering a festive mood in a stronghold of national pride.
There was optimism as the bowlers excelled, momentum when batters scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with limited drama and interminable tedium. This recent match and that slow Test are polar opposites of the range – neither the standard, yet historical weight can be ascribed to both.
At this stage into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the history books.
"This isn't the death of the long game at all," commented a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the leader talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team responded for him, reinstating the smile to his countenance.
Emerging talents delivered with crucial roles. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to secure long-term stability, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters departed into a beautiful night, the squad congregated on the field to commence their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, men. This victory was hard-fought.
