Root Finally Conquers Australia with a Classic Gabba Masterpiece
It feels like we’ve watched Joe Root achieve just about everything in Test cricket, but there was always this one stubborn gap in his glittering record — a century on Australian soil. Now, after years of close calls, tough tours, and lessons learned the hard way, that box has finally been ticked in emphatic style. And honestly, the way it unfolded at the Gabba makes the moment feel even more special.
Root came in when England were in complete disarray at 2 for 5, the pink ball swinging, the Gabba crowd roaring, and Mitchell Starc doing what he always seems to do in day-night Tests: tearing through top orders for fun. In the past, this has been exactly the kind of early collapse that would rattle England and drag Root into survival mode. But this time, something felt different. Even when he nicked one early — that half-chance diving effort from Steve Smith that didn’t stick — Root didn’t stiffen up or panic. Instead, he settled, almost as if he decided right then that the story of the day was going to be his.
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His innings wasn’t flashy, and it wasn’t Bazball. It was classic, disciplined, old-school Joe Root — the version that has quietly built mountains of runs all around the world. He left impressively, drove straight, refused anything risky outside off, and let the strike rate rise and fall naturally with the mood of the game. His partner Zak Crawley even said afterward that Root was “so calm and so clear” about how he wanted to play. And that’s exactly how it looked.
What made the knock even more remarkable was how he carried on after that messy mid-pitch mix-up that got Ben Stokes run out. That kind of moment can derail a set batter’s rhythm, but Root just reset himself and kept controlling the tempo. By the time the ball softened and Australia’s seamers drifted off their lines, he was in full flow, nudging, gliding, and building towards the milestone that had eluded him for more than a decade.
When he finally flicked the ball behind square to reach his hundred — his 40th in Test cricket — you could feel the release. The Gabba crowd roared, his teammates erupted, and even though Root tried to stay humble afterward, everyone understood how huge this was. This wasn’t just another century. This was the one he had been chasing since he was a young batter on his first Ashes tour in 2013.
Given the pressure, the conditions, and the match situation, this innings will sit right up near the top of Root’s career highlights. And now, at last, the great English run-scorer has his Australian Test century — earned the hard way, on the ground where his Ashes journey began.
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