🔗 Share this article

Ultimately, the very celebration was flawless, under lights under that strange deep-blue southern sky, amid the chaos of the contest – manic Baz energy, England’s lower order scything away in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle, Joe Root steered the ball away to fine leg to complete his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.

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

An Achievement Preserved in Time

A man who already possessed thirty-nine centuries in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his fortieth. However, trace the narrative, the artistry, the setbacks.

There will, of course, be much discussion stuff to be resolved. Is Joe Root finally great? Does he now rank among Australian greats?

Yet there exists something further about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. It’s not about point-scoring. Any Australian who understands cricket is well aware Root is a exceptional cricketer.

Root's Century as a Reliable Foundation

This ton felt meaningful in other ways, not least as something tangible in the series for this team, a handhold in the difficulty.

Will England triumph at the Gabba? It's unclear. 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 authentically tough conditions, an innings that might just have saved his team in this series.

It had to start with the wings already falling off, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at 5/2. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Contrast in the Crease

In the afternoon session, England were in a reasonable position. Two examples of elite Yorkshire batting at the crease.

On one side, Root was exuding calm, easy, graceful, alert. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.

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

A Damaging Stroke

Is it wise to challenge this? Apparently so. No settling in, no feet. Just a flash of the bat first up.

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

It was, if nothing else, novel in its abjectness. We've witnessed England bat in Australia without fluidity. Now Brook presented the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root's Quiet Rebuke

Therefore one half of this England team persisted in failing, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for the team's cause.

He delivered his own quiet rebuke, a success for preparation, addressing your flaws.

England are still in this series because he did the thing, delivered a lesson in what skill in the end means.

Can they dismiss Australia? Are they going to learn? Uncertain. But Joe Root did score a hundred.