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Finally, the very celebration was perfect, under lights under that unusual intense blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the match situation – hyper Baz energy, England’s lower order scything away with reckless abandon at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. At the heart, the veteran batsman guided 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 the reason this was more than warm, inspiring and cleansing, but quietly epic.

A Moment Frozen in Its Own Light

A batsman who already had 39 centuries in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now compiled his fortieth. But, consider the story, the craft, the jags in the road.

There will, of course, be plenty of discussion 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 one-upmanship. Every Australian who understands cricket already knows Root is a exceptional cricketer.

Root's Century as a Solid Anchor

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

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.

And not just a hundred in Australia, but a outstanding one in authentically 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 5/2. He was given a life early in the slips.

The Contrast 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 playing his natural game, relaxed, lithe, alert. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.

All the while, a gloom was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and the swing maestro building up for the key spell of the day.

A Reckless Stroke

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

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

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

The Veteran's Quiet Rebuke

Thus one half of this England team continued to collapse, while at the other end Root batted with immense resolve, but for everyone else’s too.

He delivered his own quiet rebuke, a success for doing your homework, working at your flaws.

The tourists are still in this series because he scaled the peak, delivered a lesson in what skill truly means.

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