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Finally, the moment of celebration was ideal, under lights under that unique deep-blue southern sky, within the tumult of the contest – hyper Baz energy, the English lower order scything away with reckless abandon at the other end.

Right. All that drama. In the middle, the former captain eased the ball away through fine leg to notch his first Test hundred in Australia.

However, for those who understand, the significance is clear. Consider trying to explain the reason this was not just warm, inspiring and cathartic, but subtly monumental.

A Milestone Caught in Its Own Light

A man who already possessed 39 tons in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now compiled his 40th. Yet, follow the journey, the craft, the jags in the road.

There'll, of course, be much discussion material to be settled. Has Joe Root finally achieved greatness? Is he *Australian* great?

However, there is something further about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. It’s not about rivalry. Any Australian who understands cricket is well aware Root is a great cricketer.

Root's Century as a Reliable Foundation

The century felt meaningful in other ways, particularly as something solid in the series for this team, a anchor in the glacier.

Are England going to win 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 superb one in truly tough conditions, an innings that could have saved his team in this series.

The innings commenced with the wings already falling off, and England’s key batter coming out at 5/2. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Crease

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

At one end, Root was playing his natural game, 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 building up for the pivotal spell of the day.

A Costly Choice

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

The ball to Brook was full, the edge thick. There is no world where this was a sensible choice.

It was at least novel in its utter failure. We've witnessed England bat in Australia without fluidity. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Steady Rebuke

And so 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.

Root provided his own masterful response, a triumph for doing your homework, correcting your flaws.

England 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? Will they adapt? Uncertain. But Joe Root made a hundred.