🔗 Share this article

In the end, even the celebration was ideal, on the field under that strange deep-blue southern sky, amid the chaos of the game-state – manic Baz energy, the English lower order cutting loose in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle, the former captain guided the ball away through fine leg to notch his first Test hundred in Australia.

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

A Milestone Preserved in Its Own Light

A batsman who already had 39 hundreds in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his 40th. But, consider the story, the skill, the setbacks.

There will, of course, be plenty of debate stuff to be settled. Does this cement Joe Root's greatness? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

But there is something further about wanting Root to be great in Australia. It’s not about point-scoring. Every Australian who understands cricket already knows Root is a great cricketer.

Root's Hundred as a Reliable Anchor

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

Are England going to win at the Gabba? Uncertain. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook play... the worst shot yet? Yes. He did.

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

It began with the early wickets tumbling, and England’s premier batsman coming out at 5/2. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Dichotomy in the Middle

In the afternoon session, England were 3/175. Two versions of elite Yorkshire batting at the crease.

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

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

A Reckless Decision

Should one attack this threat? Apparently so. No settling in, no feet. Just a reckless waft first up.

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

It was at least novel in its abjectness. We've witnessed England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. This was Brook as the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root's Quiet Rebuke

Therefore one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted not just for his life, but for the team's cause.

Root provided his own quiet rebuke, a triumph for doing your homework, addressing your flaws.

England are still in this series because he achieved the milestone, delivered a lesson in what skill ultimately means.

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