Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the MCG is housed a neon pink suit worn by the pop star. His concert in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a triumph.
Perhaps you don't like his music. You might think he is the finest offering to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some tracks are fantastic while others are terrible.
The point being is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce literature or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon the environment.
The weather, the session, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the athletes create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides 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 wicket which produced a win and the second two-day Test of the series.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the surface, causing 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the 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 explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the investment made elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Some factors are tolerated more easily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were hindered from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – reading the situation and responding effectively. The best individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the devotees who have suffered 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands celebrated and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, momentum when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the victory was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with difficult wickets. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
At this stage into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the demise of the format at all," said a veteran. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been treated to some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: 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 protected him, reinstating the smile to his face.
New faces delivered with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team gathered on the outfield to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, boys. It's well deserved.
