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In the end, the very celebration was ideal, under lights under that strange vivid blue southern sky, within the tumult of the game-state – hyper 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 guided the ball away to fine leg to notch his first Test hundred in Australia.

But, then if you know, you know. Picture trying to explain why this was not just warm, inspiring and cleansing, but profoundly significant.

A Moment Caught in Time

A player who already possessed 39 hundreds in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now scored his 40th. Yet, consider the journey, the craft, the jags in the road.

There'll, of course, be a lot of debate material to be resolved. Is Joe Root finally great? Does he now rank among Australian greats?

Yet there exists something further about wanting Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning point-scoring. Any Australian who cares for cricket already knows Root is a exceptional cricketer.

The Captain's Hundred as a Solid Handhold

The century felt significant in other ways, not least as something solid in the series for this team, a handhold in the difficulty.

Will England triumph at the Gabba? Uncertain. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook play... the worst shot yet? Yes. He did.

This was not merely a hundred in Australia, but a superb one in genuinely tough conditions, an innings that may have saved his team in this series.

The innings commenced with the early wickets tumbling, and England’s greatest modern player coming out at two wickets down for five runs. A chance was put down early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Middle

In the afternoon session, England were in a reasonable position. Two examples of elite Yorkshire-dom at the crease.

On one side, Root was exuding calm, easy, graceful, alert. At the other, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

Throughout, a dusk was coming, shadows creeping across the ground, and Mitchell Starc preparing for the key spell of the day.

A Reckless Stroke

Should one attack this threat? Yep. No sighters, no feet. Just a reckless waft first up.

The ball to Brook was full-length, the edge thick. There is no scenario where this was a smart choice.

It was, if nothing else, novel in its abjectness. We have seen England bat in Australia like a rusted machine. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root'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 victory for diligence, correcting your flaws.

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

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