Within a glass case on the third floor of the MCG is housed a neon pink suit donned by the entertainer. The performance in front of a hundred thousand spectators was hailed as a success.
It's possible you appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to create art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The weather, the session, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the long game is art, the strip is the canvas on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the established format dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a victory and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Having excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. In contrast, it turns square on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting because of the time made during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about problem solving – assessing the conditions and responding effectively. The top two individual innings were made by world-class batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, countless fans celebrated and sang their songs, generating a party atmosphere in a heartland of sport.
There was optimism as the bowlers surged, momentum when batters responded, and unconditional love when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a marathon, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the range – one is not more perfect, yet significance can be attached to each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the history books.
"Far from being the death of Test cricket at all," commented a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been treated to some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this match, the captain spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team protected him, reinstating the joy to his face.
New faces stepped up with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to ensure long-term stability, but something to build on.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd left into a stunning sunset, the squad congregated on the outfield to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
