🔗 Share this article

Ultimately, the very celebration was ideal, under lights under that strange vivid blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the match situation – hyper Baz energy, England’s lower order cutting loose with reckless abandon at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. Amidst it all, Joe Root eased the ball away through fine leg to secure his maiden Test hundred in Australia.

However, for those who understand, the significance is clear. Imagine trying to explain why this was not just warm, uplifting and cathartic, but profoundly significant.

A Milestone Caught in Its Own Light

A player who already possessed 39 centuries in this traditional format of a sport has now scored his 40th. However, follow the narrative, the craft, the jags in the road.

There'll, of course, be much debate talk to be settled. Has Joe Root finally achieved greatness? Is he *Australian* great?

However, there is something deeper about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. It isn't regarding rivalry. Every Australian who understands cricket is well aware Root is a exceptional cricketer.

The Captain's Hundred as a Solid Foundation

The century felt important in other ways, not least as something tangible in the series for this team, a anchor in the difficulty.

Will England triumph at the Gabba? Don’t know. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook play... the worst shot yet? Yes. He did.

And not just a hundred in Australia, but a brilliant one in truly tough conditions, an innings that may have saved his team in this series.

It had to start with the early wickets tumbling, and England’s premier batsman coming out at a dire 5 for 2. He was given a life early in the slips.

The Dichotomy in the Crease

In the afternoon session, England were 175 for three. Two embodiments of elite Yorkshire batting at the crease.

On one side, Root was simply being himself, relaxed, lithe, alert. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

Throughout, a gloom was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and the swing maestro revving up for the pivotal spell of the day.

A Reckless Choice

Do you run towards this danger? Apparently so. No sighters, no feet. Just a reckless waft first up.

The delivery to Brook was full, the edge clear. There is no context where this was a smart choice.

It was, if nothing else, novel in its complete misjudgment. We have seen England bat in Australia like a rusted machine. Now Brook presented the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Silent Answer

And so one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted with immense resolve, but for everyone else’s too.

He offered his own masterful response, a success for diligence, correcting your flaws.

England are still in this series because he scaled the peak, offered a lesson in what ability in the end means.

Will they take twenty wickets? Can they evolve? Not sure. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.