Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink suit donned by the pop star. The show in front of a hundred thousand attendees was hailed as a major hit.
It's possible you like his music. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, admitting that some songs are excellent while others are terrible.
The point being is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to produce literature or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on the environment.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the wicket.
If the long game is art, the strip is the canvas on which the players craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which produced a win and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Leaving excessive grass on the surface, leading to 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Sometimes, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the time committed elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Some factors are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were prevented from showcasing their talents.
The format is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and responding accordingly. The two highest individual contributions were made by recognized batters. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the MCG, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, producing a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the bowlers excelled, advantage when batters fought back, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with pitch problems. Previously, a Test there featured a pitch with all the life of a a damp squib.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. This recent match and that previous match are polar opposites of the scale – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to both.
At this stage into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been given some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the captain spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team responded for him, bringing back the joy to his face.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team congregated on the outfield to start their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
