🔗 Share this article

Finally, even the celebration was ideal, under lights under that unusual vivid blue southern sky, amid the chaos of the match situation – frantic Baz energy, the English lower order scything away death cult-style at the other end.

Right. All that drama. At the heart, Joe Root guided the ball away past fine leg to notch his maiden Test hundred in Australia.

But, then if you know, you know. Consider trying to explain the reason this was not just warm, uplifting and cathartic, but profoundly significant.

An Achievement Frozen in Time

A man who already had thirty-nine tons in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now scored his fortieth. However, consider the story, the craft, the twists and turns.

There will, of course, be plenty of discussion stuff to be settled. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he *Australian* great?

However, there is something deeper about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. It isn't regarding one-upmanship. Any Australian who cares for cricket already knows Root is a exceptional cricketer.

Root's Hundred as a Solid Foundation

Root’s hundred felt important in other ways, particularly 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.

And not just a hundred in Australia, but a brilliant 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 greatest modern player coming out at a dire 5 for 2. He was given a life early in the slips.

The Contrast in the Crease

As the day progressed, England were in a reasonable position. Two versions of elite Yorkshire batting at the crease.

At one end, Root was simply being himself, easy, lithe, alert. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

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

A Costly Stroke

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

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

It was, if nothing else, novel in its utter failure. We have seen England bat in Australia like a rusted machine. This was Brook as the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran'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.

Root provided his own subtle correction, a success for doing your homework, working at your flaws.

England are still in this series because he achieved the milestone, offered a lesson in what talent truly means.

Will they take twenty wickets? Can they evolve? Uncertain. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.