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Ultimately, the moment of celebration was perfect, under lights under that strange intense blue southern sky, within the tumult of the match situation – hyper Baz energy, the English lower order scything away with reckless abandon at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle, Joe Root steered the ball away past fine leg to complete his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.

But, then if you know, you know. Imagine trying to explain the reason this was more than heartwarming, uplifting and cleansing, but profoundly significant.

A Moment Preserved in Time

A batsman who already possessed thirty-nine hundreds in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now registered his fortieth. Yet, consider the journey, the craft, the setbacks.

There'll, of course, be much discussion stuff to be hashed out. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he *Australian* great?

Yet there exists something further about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning one-upmanship. Any Australian who cares for cricket is well aware Root is a exceptional cricketer.

Root's Hundred as a Reliable Anchor

This ton felt significant in other ways, especially as something concrete in the series for this team, a foothold in the difficulty.

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.

This was not merely a hundred in Australia, but a outstanding one in truly tough conditions, an innings that might just have saved his team in this series.

The innings commenced with the team in deep trouble, and England’s premier batsman coming out at a dire 5 for 2. A chance was put down early in the slips.

The Contrast in the Crease

By mid-afternoon, England were 175 for three. Two embodiments of elite Yorkshire grit at the crease.

At one end, Root was playing his natural game, relaxed, lithe, watchful. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

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

A Damaging Decision

Do you run towards this danger? Yep. No settling in, no feet. Just a flash of the bat first up.

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

It was, if nothing else, novel in its abjectness. We have seen England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root's Silent Response

And so one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for the entire innings.

He offered his own quiet rebuke, a success for diligence, correcting your flaws.

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

Are they going to bowl Australia out? Are they going to learn? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root did score a hundred.