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Ultimately, the moment of celebration was flawless, out there under that strange vivid blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the match situation – hyper Baz energy, the English lower order scything away in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

Indeed. All of that. In the middle, Joe Root steered the ball away through fine leg to notch his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.

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

An Achievement Caught in Its Own Light

A batsman who already had 39 centuries in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now registered his 40th. But, follow the journey, the skill, the twists and turns.

There will, of course, be a lot of debate stuff to be settled. Has Joe Root finally achieved greatness? Is he *Australian* great?

But there is something more about hoping for Root to be great in Australia. It isn't regarding one-upmanship. Every Australian who understands cricket already knows Root is a exceptional cricketer.

Root's Century as a Reliable Handhold

Root’s hundred felt significant in other ways, not least as something concrete in the series for this team, a anchor in the difficulty.

Are England going to win at the Gabba? Don’t know. But Joe Root got a hundred. Was Harry Brook's dismissal the poorest shot? Yes. He did.

This was not merely a hundred in Australia, but a brilliant one in truly tough conditions, an innings that might just have saved his team in this series.

It began with the wings already falling off, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at two wickets down for five runs. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Dichotomy in the Middle

By mid-afternoon, England were 3/175. Two examples of elite Yorkshire-dom at the crease.

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

Meanwhile, a gloom was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and Mitchell Starc preparing for the crucial spell of the day.

A Damaging Stroke

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

The delivery to Brook was full-length, the edge healthy. 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 gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root's Steady Answer

Therefore one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for everyone else’s too.

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

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

Can they dismiss Australia? Are they going to learn? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.