Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. The show in front of a massive crowd of fans was hailed as a triumph.
It's possible you appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, acknowledging that some songs are excellent while others are terrible.
The central idea is that enjoyment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create literature or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the format is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the athletes craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the great game taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the wicket which produced a win and the another short match of the series.
Having excessive grass on the pitch, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The long game is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and ongoing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling due to the patience devoted elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are accepted more easily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were unable from showcasing their talents.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and adapting effectively. The two highest individual innings were made by acknowledged batters. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the devotees who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was belief as the fielding side surged, advantage when players responded, and rapturous celebration when the victory was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with difficult wickets. In the past, a game there featured a strip with the excitement of a a non-event.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are polar opposites of the range – both are not the standard, yet value can be ascribed to both.
At this stage into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the end of the long game at all," commented a past champion. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been experienced some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The squad protected him, restoring the positive demeanor to his face.
Different players delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term success, but a starting point to develop from.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters left into a beautiful night, the squad congregated on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, boys. It's well deserved.
