In a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a electric pink outfit performed in by the pop star. The performance in front of 100,024 attendees was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy his music. You might think he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a balanced view, conceding that some hits are fantastic while others are poor.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to create art or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the foundation on which the players create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the established format taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the surface which produced a win and the second two-day Test of the series.
Having 10mm of grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The long game is a diverse canvas, a long history and ongoing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. Sometimes, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling because of the investment devoted in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the wicket and adapting accordingly. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the MCG, thousands celebrated and chanted, generating a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack excelled, advantage when the top order fought back, and unconditional love when the result was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a game there featured a strip with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the spectrum – neither ideal, yet historical weight can be found in both.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the demise of the format at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been experienced some fantastic sport. A unique show."
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 shoulders.
The team delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his countenance.
New faces performed with vital performances. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to secure long-term success, but something to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a beautiful night, the squad congregated on the turf to start their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, men. It's well deserved.
