Majestic Joe Root Revels in Australian Triumph at Long Last but Harry Brook's Mistake Could Prove Costly
Ultimately, even the celebration was flawless, under lights under that unusual deep-blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the game-state – hyper Baz energy, the English lower order scything away in a do-or-die manner at the other end.
Right. All that drama. In the middle, Joe Root guided the ball away to fine leg to notch his maiden Test hundred in Australia.
Yet, the true meaning resonates with those who have followed the journey. Picture trying to explain the reason this was not just heartwarming, uplifting and cathartic, but profoundly significant.
A Milestone Preserved in Time
A man who already possessed 39 hundreds in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now compiled his fortieth. Yet, follow the story, the artistry, the jags in the road.
There'll, of course, be plenty of debate material to be settled. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he considered great by Australian standards?
Yet there exists something more about wanting Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning point-scoring. Every Australian who cares for cricket is well aware Root is a world-class cricketer.
The Captain's Century as a Sturdy Foundation
The century felt significant in other ways, particularly as something concrete in the series for this team, a handhold in the glacier.
Are England going to win at the Gabba? It's unclear. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook play... the worst shot yet? Yes. He did.
This was not merely a hundred in Australia, but a superb one in truly tough conditions, an innings that might just have saved his team in this series.
It began with the team in deep trouble, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at two wickets down for five runs. A chance was put down early in the slips.
The Contrast in the Crease
In the afternoon session, England were 3/175. Two embodiments of elite Yorkshire grit at the crease.
At one end, Root was playing his natural game, easy, lithe, watchful. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.
Meanwhile, a dusk was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and Mitchell Starc revving up for the pivotal spell of the day.
A Costly Stroke
Is it wise to challenge this? Yep. No sighters, no feet. Just a flash of the bat first up.
The ball to Brook was full-length, the edge healthy. There is no scenario where this was a sensible choice.
It was, if nothing else, novel in its abjectness. We have seen England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. This was Brook as the scarecrow, batting without a brain.
Root's Silent Response
And so one half of this England team continued to collapse, while at the other end Root batted with immense resolve, but for everyone else’s too.
Root provided his own quiet rebuke, a victory for preparation, working at your flaws.
The tourists are still in this series because he achieved the milestone, offered a lesson in what talent ultimately means.
Can they dismiss Australia? Can they evolve? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root did score a hundred.
