Ultimately, even the celebration was ideal, under lights under that unusual intense blue southern sky, within the tumult of the contest – frantic Baz energy, England’s lower order cutting loose in a do-or-die manner at the other end.
Right. All that drama. In the middle, Joe Root guided the ball away to fine leg to complete his maiden Test hundred in Australia.
However, for those who understand, the significance is clear. Consider trying to explain the reason this was more than heartwarming, inspiring and cleansing, but quietly epic.
A Moment Caught in Time
A player who already possessed 39 tons in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now scored his 40th. However, trace the journey, the craft, the setbacks.
There'll, of course, be plenty of banter-war talk to be settled. Does this cement Joe Root's greatness? Is he *Australian* great?
Yet there exists something more about hoping for Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning point-scoring. Any Australian who understands cricket already knows Root is a exceptional cricketer.
Root's Century as a Solid Foundation
Root’s hundred felt important in other ways, particularly as something solid in the series for this team, a foothold in the difficulty.
Will England triumph at the Gabba? Don’t know. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook produce a disastrous stroke? Yes. He did.
This was not merely a hundred in Australia, but a brilliant one in genuinely tough conditions, an innings that might just have saved his team in this series.
It had to start with the team in deep trouble, and England’s key batter coming out at 5/2. A chance was put down early in the slips.
The Juxtaposition in the Crease
By mid-afternoon, England were in a reasonable position. Two versions of elite Yorkshire batting 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.
Meanwhile, a gloom was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and the swing maestro preparing for the crucial spell of the day.
A Damaging Choice
Should one attack this threat? Yes. No sighters, no feet. Just throw the hands at it first up.
The delivery to Brook was full, the edge thick. There is no scenario where this was a smart choice.
It was at least novel in its complete misjudgment. We've witnessed England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. Now Brook presented 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 not just for his life, but for everyone else’s too.
He offered his own subtle correction, a success for diligence, addressing your flaws.
The tourists are still in this series because he scaled the peak, delivered a lesson in what skill in the end means.
Will they take twenty wickets? Are they going to learn? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root made a hundred.
