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Finally, the moment of celebration was ideal, out there under that unique deep-blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the contest – frantic Baz energy, the English lower order cutting loose in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

Indeed. All of that. At the heart, the former captain steered the ball away to fine leg to complete his maiden Test hundred in Australia.

But, then if you know, you know. Picture trying to explain why this was not just heartwarming, uplifting and cleansing, but subtly monumental.

A Milestone Preserved in Time

A player who already possessed thirty-nine hundreds in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his fortieth. But, trace the story, the craft, the twists and turns.

There'll, of course, be a lot of discussion stuff to be settled. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

However, there is something more about wanting Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning one-upmanship. Every Australian who understands cricket already knows Root is a world-class cricketer.

The Captain's Hundred as a Reliable Handhold

Root’s hundred felt meaningful in other ways, particularly 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 genuinely 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. He was given a life 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 playing his natural game, relaxed, lithe, alert. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

Meanwhile, a gloom was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and the swing maestro building up for the key spell of the day.

A Damaging Decision

Should one attack this threat? Yes. No settling in, no feet. Just a flash of the bat first up.

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

It was at least novel in its complete misjudgment. We've witnessed England bat in Australia without fluidity. Now Brook presented the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Silent Rebuke

Thus one half of this England team persisted in failing, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for everyone else’s too.

He delivered his own subtle correction, a success for doing your homework, correcting your flaws.

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

Are they going to bowl Australia out? Are they going to learn? Not sure. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.