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Ultimately, the very celebration was ideal, under lights under that unusual intense blue southern sky, amid the chaos of the game-state – frantic Baz energy, England’s lower order cutting loose death cult-style at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. At the heart, Joe Root guided the ball away to fine leg to notch his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.

Yet, the true meaning resonates with those who have followed the journey. Imagine trying to explain why this was not just warm, uplifting and cleansing, but subtly monumental.

An Achievement Frozen in Time

A batsman who already had thirty-nine tons in this traditional format of a sport has now scored his 40th. Yet, follow the journey, the skill, the setbacks.

There'll, of course, be plenty of discussion talk to be resolved. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he *Australian* great?

Yet there exists something deeper about hoping for Root to be great in Australia. It isn't regarding point-scoring. Any Australian who cares for cricket recognizes Root is a great cricketer.

Root's Hundred as a Solid Handhold

This ton felt significant in other ways, especially as something tangible in the series for this team, a handhold in the ice.

Can England secure victory at the Gabba? It's unclear. 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.

It began with the early wickets tumbling, and England’s premier batsman coming out at a dire 5 for 2. He was given a life early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Middle

As the day progressed, England were 3/175. Two versions of elite Yorkshire-dom at the crease.

At one end, Root was exuding calm, easy, graceful, watchful. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.

Meanwhile, a dusk was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and the pink ball genius building up for the key spell of the day.

A Costly Decision

Is it wise to challenge this? Yes. No sighters, no feet. Just throw the hands at it first up.

The delivery to Brook was full-length, the edge healthy. There is no scenario where this was a sensible choice.

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

Root's Quiet Rebuke

Thus one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted not just for his life, but for the entire innings.

Root provided his own quiet rebuke, a triumph for diligence, addressing your flaws.

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

Will they take twenty wickets? Will they adapt? Uncertain. But Joe Root did score a hundred.