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In the end, the very celebration was perfect, on the field under that unique deep-blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the game-state – hyper Baz energy, the English lower order scything away death cult-style at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle, the former captain steered the ball away past fine leg to secure 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, inspiring and cathartic, but profoundly significant.

An Achievement Frozen in Time

A player who already had 39 tons in this rigorous discipline of a sport has now compiled his 40th. Yet, follow the narrative, the skill, the setbacks.

There'll, of course, be plenty of discussion stuff to be resolved. Is Joe Root finally great? Does he now rank among Australian greats?

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

The Captain's Hundred as a Sturdy Anchor

This ton felt meaningful in other ways, not least as something solid in the series for this team, a foothold in the ice.

Will England triumph at the Gabba? It's unclear. But Joe Root got a hundred. Was Harry Brook's dismissal the poorest shot? Yes. He did.

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

It began with the early wickets tumbling, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at 5/2. He was given a life early in the slips.

The Contrast in the Middle

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

On one side, Root was playing his natural game, easy, lithe, watchful. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

Throughout, a gloom was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and Mitchell Starc building up for the pivotal spell of the day.

A Damaging Choice

Is it wise to challenge this? Apparently so. No sighters, no feet. Just throw the hands at it first up.

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

It was at least novel in its abjectness. We have seen England bat in Australia without fluidity. This was Brook as the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Silent Rebuke

Thus one half of this England team persisted in failing, while at the other end Root batted for survival, but for everyone else’s too.

Root provided his own masterful response, a triumph for diligence, correcting your flaws.

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

Will they take twenty wickets? Will they adapt? Uncertain. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.