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In the end, even the celebration was perfect, out there under that unusual vivid blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the game-state – manic Baz energy, the English lower order swinging freely death cult-style at the other end.

Right. All that drama. At the heart, the former captain steered the ball away to fine leg to secure his first Test hundred in Australia.

But, then if you know, you know. Picture trying to explain the reason this was not just warm, uplifting and cleansing, but quietly epic.

An Achievement Caught in Time

A player who already had thirty-nine centuries in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his fortieth. However, consider the story, the skill, the jags in the road.

There'll, of course, be plenty of discussion talk to be hashed out. Does this cement Joe Root's greatness? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

Yet there exists something further about wishing 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 Sturdy Anchor

This ton felt important in other ways, especially as something solid in the series for this team, a handhold in the difficulty.

Can England secure victory 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 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 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 3/175. Two examples of elite Yorkshire batting at the crease.

At one end, Root was simply being himself, relaxed, lithe, watchful. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

Throughout, a gloom was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and the pink ball genius preparing for the key spell of the day.

A Costly Stroke

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, the edge healthy. There is no world where this was a good choice.

It was, if nothing else, novel in its complete misjudgment. We've witnessed England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Steady Answer

Thus one half of this England team continued to collapse, while at the other end Root batted not just for his life, but for everyone else’s too.

He offered his own masterful response, a success for preparation, working at your flaws.

The tourists are still in this series because he achieved the milestone, provided a lesson in what ability ultimately means.

Are they going to bowl Australia out? Will they adapt? Uncertain. But Joe Root made a hundred.