Displayed inside a display cabinet on the upper level of the MCG sits a neon pink outfit donned by the entertainer. The concert in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a major hit.
It's possible you appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music in history. You might take a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are belting while others are poor.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create music or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The weather, the time of day, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the established format dismantled and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the surface which resulted in a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Having 10mm of grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and still growing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. Other times, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the patience made elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were hindered from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and responding appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by world-class players. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the fans who have suffered years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, fostering a carnival vibe in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the fielding side dominated, advantage when batters fought back, and unconditional love when the result was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Previously, a Test there featured a strip with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the range – both are not perfect, yet significance can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the quick finishes that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the death of the long game at all," observed a past champion. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been given some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the captain talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players protected him, restoring the smile to his persona.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, not nearly enough to secure long-term futures, but something to use as a platform.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters left into a beautiful night, the players gathered on the field to begin their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
