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Finally, even the celebration was ideal, under lights under that strange deep-blue southern sky, amid the chaos of the contest – frantic Baz energy, England’s lower order swinging freely in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. At the heart, the veteran batsman guided the ball away through fine leg to secure his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.

However, for those who understand, the significance is clear. Picture trying to explain why this was more than warm, inspiring and cleansing, but subtly monumental.

An Achievement Frozen in Time

A player who already possessed 39 hundreds in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his 40th. However, consider the story, the skill, the jags in the road.

There will, of course, be plenty of discussion talk to be settled. Has Joe Root finally achieved greatness? Is he *Australian* great?

But there is something more about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning one-upmanship. Any Australian who understands cricket is well aware Root is a great cricketer.

The Captain's Hundred as a Reliable Anchor

Root’s hundred felt important in other ways, not least as something solid in the series for this team, a handhold in the glacier.

Are England going to win at the Gabba? Don’t know. 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 brilliant 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 greatest modern player coming out at two wickets down for five runs. He was given a life early in the slips.

The Dichotomy in the Crease

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

On one side, Root was playing his natural game, easy, lithe, alert. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.

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

A Damaging Decision

Do you run towards this danger? Apparently so. No settling in, no feet. Just throw the hands at it first up.

The ball to Brook was full-length, the edge clear. There is no world where this was a good choice.

It was, if nothing else, novel in its utter failure. We have seen England bat in Australia like a rusted machine. This was Brook as the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root's Steady Response

And so one half of this England team continued to collapse, while at the other end Root batted with immense resolve, but for the team's cause.

Root provided his own quiet rebuke, a triumph for preparation, addressing your flaws.

England are still in this series because he achieved the milestone, offered a lesson in what talent truly means.

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