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Ultimately, even the celebration was perfect, on the field under that unique vivid blue southern sky, within the tumult of the game-state – frantic Baz energy, the English lower order cutting loose in a do-or-die manner at the other end.

So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle, the veteran batsman guided the ball away through fine leg to secure his maiden Test hundred in Australia.

Yet, the true meaning resonates with those who have followed the journey. Consider trying to explain why this was not just warm, uplifting and cathartic, but subtly monumental.

A Milestone Caught in Time

A man who already had 39 hundreds in this traditional format of a sport has now scored his 40th. But, follow the journey, the artistry, the setbacks.

There'll, of course, be a lot of discussion talk to be settled. Has Joe Root finally achieved greatness? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

But there is something further about wanting Root to be great in Australia. It’s not about rivalry. Any Australian who understands cricket already knows Root is a world-class cricketer.

The Captain's Century as a Solid Foundation

The century felt meaningful in other ways, not least as something tangible in the series for this team, a handhold in the ice.

Are England going to win at the Gabba? It's unclear. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook produce a disastrous stroke? 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.

The innings commenced with the early wickets tumbling, and England’s key batter coming out at 5/2. A chance was put down early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Middle

By mid-afternoon, England were 175 for three. Two embodiments of elite Yorkshire-dom at the crease.

At one end, Root was playing his natural game, relaxed, graceful, watchful. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

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

A Reckless Stroke

Do you run towards this danger? Apparently so. No settling in, no feet. Just throw the hands at it first up.

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

It was, if nothing else, novel in its abjectness. We've witnessed England bat in Australia like a rusted machine. Now Brook presented the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

The Veteran's Steady Rebuke

And so one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted not just for his life, but for everyone else’s too.

Root provided his own masterful response, a success for preparation, addressing your flaws.

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

Will they take twenty wickets? Can they evolve? It remains to be seen. But Joe Root compiled a hundred.