Ultimately, even the celebration was flawless, under lights under that unique deep-blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the contest – frantic Baz energy, the English lower order cutting loose death cult-style at the other end.
So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle, the veteran batsman steered the ball away through fine leg to notch his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.
But, then if you know, you know. Consider trying to explain the reason this was not just warm, inspiring and cathartic, but quietly epic.
A player who already possessed 39 hundreds in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now registered his fortieth. But, trace the narrative, the craft, the setbacks.
There'll, of course, be a lot of banter-war talk to be hashed out. Does this cement Joe Root's greatness? Is he *Australian* great?
Yet there exists something more about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. It’s not about point-scoring. Any Australian who understands cricket is well aware Root is a great cricketer.
This ton felt meaningful in other ways, especially as something solid in the series for this team, a handhold in the ice.
Are England going to win at the Gabba? Uncertain. 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 brilliant one in truly tough conditions, an innings that could have saved his team in this series.
It had to start with the wings already falling off, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at 5/2. A chance was put down early in the slips.
In the afternoon session, England were 3/175. Two versions of elite Yorkshire batting at the crease.
On one side, Root was simply being himself, easy, lithe, alert. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.
Meanwhile, a darkness was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and the swing maestro building up for the key spell of the day.
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 scenario where this was a good choice.
It was at least novel in its abjectness. We have seen England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.
And so one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for the team's cause.
He delivered his own masterful response, a triumph for preparation, correcting your flaws.
England are still in this series because he did the thing, offered a lesson in what talent truly means.
Are they going to bowl Australia out? Will they adapt? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root made a hundred.
