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Finally, the very celebration was perfect, under lights under that unusual intense blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the game-state – manic Baz energy, England’s lower order scything away death cult-style at the other end.

Right. All that drama. At the heart, the former captain eased the ball away to 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 more than warm, uplifting and cleansing, but profoundly significant.

A Moment Preserved in Its Own Light

A player who already had 39 hundreds in this traditional format of a sport has now compiled his 40th. Yet, trace the narrative, the artistry, the jags in the road.

There will, of course, be much banter-war talk to be resolved. Is Joe Root finally great? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

Yet there exists something further about wanting Root to be great in Australia. It isn't regarding point-scoring. Every Australian who knows about cricket already knows Root is a world-class cricketer.

The Captain's Century as a Sturdy Handhold

Root’s hundred felt meaningful in other ways, particularly as something solid in the series for this team, a anchor in the glacier.

Will England triumph at the Gabba? It's unclear. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook produce a disastrous stroke? Yes. He did.

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

It began with the team in deep trouble, and England’s premier batsman coming out at a dire 5 for 2. A chance was put down early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Crease

As the day progressed, England were 3/175. Two versions of elite Yorkshire batting at the crease.

At one end, Root was playing his natural game, relaxed, lithe, alert. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who desperately needs the bathroom.

Meanwhile, a dusk was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and Mitchell Starc building up for the key spell of the day.

A Costly Stroke

Do you run towards this danger? 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 without fluidity. Now Brook presented the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Steady Rebuke

Thus one half of this England team persisted in failing, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for the entire innings.

He offered his own masterful response, a success for diligence, correcting your flaws.

The tourists are still in this series because he did the thing, offered a lesson in what ability ultimately means.

Will they take twenty wickets? Are they going to learn? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root made a hundred.