Within a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a neon pink suit donned by the pop star. His performance in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a major hit.
Perhaps you don't like the performer. You might think he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The key argument is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create music or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon conditions.
The climate, the time of day, the ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the wicket.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the foundation on which the players create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the surface which yielded a triumph and the another short match of the series.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, causing 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is incorrect.
The long game is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are all the more thrilling due to the investment devoted during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the conditions and adapting appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by acknowledged stars. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the fans who have suffered a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, a sea of people celebrated and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack surged, momentum when the top order fought back, and unconditional love when the win was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither the standard, yet significance can be attached to both.
At this stage into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the history books.
"It's not the death of Test cricket at all," observed a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The players responded for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Different players performed with key contributions. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to secure long-term futures, but a starting point to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans left into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the outfield to begin their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, boys. It's well deserved.