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Finally, the very celebration was ideal, on the field under that strange vivid blue southern sky, within the tumult of the match situation – frantic 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 to fine leg to secure his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.

However, for those who understand, the significance is clear. Imagine trying to explain the reason this was not just heartwarming, uplifting and cleansing, but subtly monumental.

A Moment Frozen in Its Own Light

A man who already possessed 39 tons in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his 40th. Yet, follow the story, the artistry, the twists and turns.

There'll, of course, be plenty of banter-war material to be hashed out. Is Joe Root finally great? Does he now rank among Australian greats?

Yet there exists something further about hoping for Root to be great in Australia. It’s not about point-scoring. Every Australian who knows about cricket is well aware Root is a exceptional cricketer.

Root's Century as a Solid Foundation

The century felt significant in other ways, especially as something tangible in the series for this team, a handhold in the difficulty.

Are England going to win 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 genuinely tough conditions, an innings that may have saved his team in this series.

The innings commenced with the team in deep trouble, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at two wickets down for five runs. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Contrast in the Middle

As the day progressed, England were 175 for three. Two examples of elite Yorkshire-dom at the crease.

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

Throughout, a dusk was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and Mitchell Starc building up for the key spell of the day.

A Damaging Decision

Do you run towards this danger? Yes. No sighters, no feet. Just a reckless waft first up.

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

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

Root's Quiet Rebuke

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

Root provided his own subtle correction, a victory for diligence, working at your flaws.

The tourists are still in this series because he did the thing, offered a lesson in what talent ultimately means.

Will they take twenty wickets? Are they going to learn? Uncertain. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.