🔗 Share this article

Ultimately, even the celebration was ideal, out there under that unusual deep-blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the contest – hyper Baz energy, the English lower order scything away death cult-style at the other end.

Indeed. All of that. In the middle, the former captain steered the ball away past fine leg to complete his maiden Test hundred in Australia.

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

A Milestone Caught in Its Own Light

A player who already had thirty-nine hundreds in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his fortieth. Yet, consider the journey, the skill, the twists and turns.

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

But there is something deeper 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.

The Captain's Century as a Reliable Handhold

The century felt meaningful in other ways, not least as something tangible 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 produce a disastrous stroke? Yes. He did.

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

The innings commenced with the wings already falling off, and England’s premier batsman coming out at two wickets down for five runs. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Middle

As the day progressed, England were 3/175. Two embodiments of elite Yorkshire grit at the crease.

On one side, Root was playing his natural game, easy, graceful, watchful. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.

Throughout, a darkness was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and the pink ball genius preparing for the pivotal spell of the day.

A Damaging Choice

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

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

It was, if nothing else, novel in its utter failure. We've witnessed England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Steady Answer

Thus one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted not just for his life, but for everyone else’s too.

He delivered his own masterful response, a triumph for doing your homework, correcting your flaws.

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

Are they going to bowl Australia out? Can they evolve? Not sure. But Joe Root did score a hundred.