🔗 Share this article

Finally, even the celebration was perfect, out there under that unusual intense blue southern sky, amid the chaos of the contest – hyper Baz energy, England’s lower order scything away in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. At the heart, Joe Root steered the ball away through fine leg to notch his first Test hundred in Australia.

But, then if you know, you know. Imagine trying to explain the reason this was not just heartwarming, inspiring and cleansing, but subtly monumental.

A Moment Preserved in Time

A batsman who already had 39 centuries in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his 40th. However, follow the journey, the artistry, the setbacks.

There will, of course, be plenty of banter-war material to be hashed out. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

However, there is something further about hoping for Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning rivalry. Every Australian who understands cricket recognizes Root is a great cricketer.

Root's Hundred as a Solid Anchor

Root’s hundred felt important in other ways, especially as something concrete in the series for this team, a anchor in the ice.

Are England going to win at the Gabba? It's unclear. But Joe Root got a hundred. Was Harry Brook's dismissal the poorest shot? Yes. He did.

This was not merely a hundred in Australia, but a superb one in truly tough conditions, an innings that may have saved his team in this series.

It had to start with the team in deep trouble, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at a dire 5 for 2. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Dichotomy in the Middle

By mid-afternoon, England were 175 for three. Two versions of elite Yorkshire-dom at the crease.

At one end, Root was exuding calm, easy, lithe, watchful. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.

All the while, a gloom was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and the swing maestro preparing for the key spell of the day.

A Costly Choice

Should one attack this threat? Yep. No sighters, no feet. Just throw the hands at it first up.

The delivery to Brook was full-length, the edge clear. There is no world where this was a sensible choice.

It was, if nothing else, novel in its abjectness. We have seen England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Steady Response

Thus one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for everyone else’s too.

He offered his own subtle correction, a victory for preparation, correcting your flaws.

The tourists are still in this series because he did the thing, provided a lesson in what talent truly means.

Will they take twenty wickets? Can they evolve? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root made a hundred.