‘No more Average Joe as Root century seals all-time great status’

What relief! You can almost touch it because it is so tangible.

It’s a relief that Joe Root has reached the Test century in Australia after 12 years and 30 attempts.

I’m relieved to know that England still has a chance to win this Ashes series.

I’m relieved that Matthew Hayden won’t be strutting his cowboy hat around the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A fully clothed Hayden, the son of Queensland, took the ovation of his home crowd on the opening day of the second Test in Brisbane.

Should Root be the floodlight, or is it the last one? – again providing what his nation and his team needed.

English Ashes dreams come to an end before they begin at the Gabba. With only three games remaining, England had a real chance to win the series 5-2 and 211-6.

Regardless of the outcome, Root managed to maintain his calmness on Vulture Street.

The ticker was toyed with and put the emotions to the test. From hopelessness and optimism to complete aversion to Mitchell Starc, the new England bogeyman.

There was a longing for Root to finally fill one of his few CV gaps, adored not only for his runs but also for everything he has given to the England cap and for his downright decency as a person.

Root has argued that a personal achievement would be insignificant if England didn’t win the Ashes. He’s correct, of course, but England are more likely to regain the urn the more runs Root runs.

His 135 and counting on this occasion gives England a run for its first win in Australia since 2011 and his first win in a day-nighter since 1986.

Since his first test appearance in 2013/14, Root has only won 16 games.

In that case, he was the prodigy in a team that collapsed, and his Test debut appearance in Sydney was the only other loss of his career.

After batting in 43-degree heat at the end of a 4-0 series defeat, Root was replaced as captain and back at the same ground four years later.

Four more years later, Root was in the hospital once more after suffering a series of unmentionable injuries during the day-night Test in Adelaide.

The end of Root’s captaincy came with that 2021-22 series, another 4-0 defeat over which Root presided. He had to watch as Covid restrictions suffocated his team.

Root’s most recent Ashes series appearance is probably in Australia. England will be there for the 150th anniversary test in 15 months, but Root will be almost 39 when the urn is contested again.

No visiting top-order batter had played as many innings as Root did before the ominous Thursday in Brisbane, which was the first time an Australian bat had recorded a century.

Australians demand respect from the opposing player when they win against Australia.

Root’s former coach at Yorkshire and his host at an Adelaide academy, Darren Lehmann, said he would not place him among the “all-time greats,” but three-figure Australian success stories remained elusive.

Because there wasn’t enough Australians in Australia when Root arrived in Perth last month, the West Australian newspaper splashed him across the front page with the headline “Average Joe.”

Root claimed that even he looked enraged after England’s terrible first-test defeat in Perth almost two weeks ago because he was not thinking about trying to get 100 in this nation. His lowest Test run total in three years was eight runs.

Root was given the task of preventing yet another England implosion when he arrived in Brisbane amid the wreckage of two wickets in the first fifteen balls of the match.

His third ball, which evaded the grasp of a diving Steve Smith at second slip, could have sent him home. It might serve as a reminder of how Smith’s run-scoring record will always be out of reach. Root hardly ever makes a mistake there.

Root barely scored through the covers and largely dissipated any desire to dab the ball behind square on the offside, largely because of England mistakes in Perth and his own problems in Australia.

The ‘V’ down the ground, which is the highest percentage in any of Root’s 16 centuries away from home, accounts for 27% of his first 100 runs, knowing the value of a straight bat on a bouncy surface.

The gears were changed, and the change up, down, and down, recognizing the importance of persevering through this challenging time of transition.

Root’s first 61 runs involved only 94 deliveries before his next 39, which included 88. He once crossed the line 18 times between boundaries. In his subsequent 50 runs, he attacked less frequently and made fewer false shots.

Root cut loose after he reached the three-figure mark, and Jofra Archer is the ideal partner for a party. Archer’s 32 not out is his highest Test score and a sign of a batting prowess that has sat dormant throughout his staccato international career.

There were plenty of supporting cast members to provide the subplots if Root was the star of the Gabba’s opening show.

Root should ask himself why he bats like a glorified slogger and examine his thirst for runs.

Brook is risking a missed chance to make a mark in the biggest series of all because she has all the talent in the world. Just as Twilight arrived, his unfathomable chase of Starc’s second delivery of a new spell was a dereliction of duty.

Brook has been chosen to lead England as the next captain, but he is currently batting like a man who can’t possibly be trusted to do so.

Given that Starc has a better career record than his fellow left-armer, comparing him to Mitchell Johnson might seem insulting.

However, if Johnson continues on his current path of destruction, Starc may put him in trouble with it. He will always have a place in English nightmares. Starc already has 16 wickets in the series, and most of it was a one-man attack on Thursday.

How different would have been if Australia had chosen Nathan Lyon? Off-spinner Lyon was standing on the edge of the field and discussing how hacked off he is to be ignored in the bizarre situation.

Former club team-mates Lyon and Root in Adelaide, they go back a long. Root taught Lyon to bat, and Lyon assisted with Root’s off-spin, according to Lyon. They later agreed to coach one another.

Only one of them has the power to influence this Test, which Root may already be able to do.