In a display cabinet on the third floor of the MCG is housed a neon pink ensemble worn by the pop star. The show in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy his music. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some hits are fantastic while others are poor.
The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create music or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on the environment.
The elements, the time of day, the red ball – the list is endless. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the players craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The format is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. At times, as witnessed recently, the ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Sometimes, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the investment committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more freely than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
The format is about adapting to challenges – reading the wicket and responding appropriately. The best individual innings were made by world-class batters. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, a sea of people made noise and chanted, producing a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was optimism as the bowlers surged, momentum when batters responded, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with difficult wickets. In the past, a game there featured a strip with the character of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a slog, with limited drama and slow play. This recent match and that slow Test are extreme ends of the spectrum – neither perfect, yet significance can be found in them.
At this stage into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the history books.
"It's not the demise of the long game at all," commented a former player. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been given some real entertainment. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the captain spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The players delivered for him, reinstating the joy to his persona.
Different players performed with crucial roles. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to secure long-term futures, but something to use as a platform.
In the end, this MCG win is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, boys. It's well deserved.
