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Ultimately, the moment of celebration was ideal, on the field under that strange intense blue southern sky, within the tumult of the match situation – frantic Baz energy, the English lower order cutting loose in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. At the heart, the veteran batsman steered the ball away through fine leg to notch his first Test hundred in Australia.

Yet, the true meaning resonates with those who have followed the journey. Picture trying to explain why this was more than heartwarming, inspiring and cleansing, but profoundly significant.

A Moment Caught in Time

A man who already had thirty-nine hundreds in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now registered his fortieth. But, follow the narrative, the craft, the twists and turns.

There will, of course, be a lot of debate talk to be hashed out. Does this cement Joe Root's greatness? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

Yet there exists something further about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. It isn't regarding rivalry. Every Australian who knows about cricket already knows Root is a great cricketer.

Root's Hundred as a Sturdy Handhold

Root’s hundred felt significant in other ways, especially as something tangible in the series for this team, a anchor in the difficulty.

Can England secure victory at the Gabba? Don’t know. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook play... the worst shot yet? Yes. He did.

And not just a hundred in Australia, but a superb one in authentically tough conditions, an innings that may have saved his team in this series.

It began with the wings already falling off, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at a dire 5 for 2. Root was dropped early in the slips.

The Dichotomy in the Middle

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

On one side, Root was simply being himself, easy, lithe, watchful. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

All the while, a dusk was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and the pink ball genius building up for the pivotal spell of the day.

A Reckless Decision

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

The ball to Brook was full, the edge thick. There is no world where this was a good 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.

The Veteran's Steady Rebuke

Therefore one half of this England team persisted in failing, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for the team's cause.

Root provided his own subtle correction, a success for doing your homework, working at your flaws.

The tourists are still in this series because he scaled the peak, delivered a lesson in what ability in the end means.

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