🔗 Share this article

Ultimately, the moment of celebration was ideal, under lights under that strange intense blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the contest – manic Baz energy, England’s lower order swinging freely with reckless abandon at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle, the veteran batsman steered the ball away to fine leg to notch his first Test hundred in Australia.

However, for those who understand, the significance is clear. Consider trying to explain why this was not just warm, uplifting and cleansing, but quietly epic.

A Milestone Caught in Time

A man who already possessed 39 tons in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now scored his fortieth. However, consider the story, the craft, the twists and turns.

There'll, of course, be plenty of debate stuff to be settled. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he *Australian* great?

But there is something more about hoping for Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning rivalry. Any Australian who cares for cricket recognizes Root is a exceptional cricketer.

The Captain's Century as a Reliable Anchor

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

Can England secure victory at the Gabba? Don’t know. But Joe Root got a hundred. Was Harry Brook's dismissal the poorest shot? Yes. He did.

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

It began with the team in deep trouble, and England’s key batter coming out at two wickets down for five runs. He was given a life early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Middle

By mid-afternoon, England were in a reasonable position. Two versions of elite Yorkshire-dom at the crease.

At one end, Root was playing his natural game, easy, lithe, watchful. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

Meanwhile, a dusk was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and Mitchell Starc building up for the pivotal spell of the day.

A Damaging Choice

Is it wise to challenge this? Yep. No settling in, no feet. Just a reckless waft first up.

The ball to Brook was full-length, 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 like a rusted machine. Now Brook presented the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root's Quiet Answer

And so one half of this England team persisted in failing, while at the other end Root batted not just for his life, but for everyone else’s too.

Root provided his own quiet rebuke, a success for diligence, correcting your flaws.

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

Can they dismiss Australia? Can they evolve? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.