Joe Root had wondered during the build-up to this crucial second Test whether the Ashes really needed a pink-ball game at all. After scoring a century for the ages and, at long last, his first on Australian soil, he may now see things rather differently.
When the moment finally came, he allowed himself that boyish grin, removed his helmet and quietly shrugged his shoulders, as if pretending not to know what all the fuss had been about. The gesture was quintessential Root, and so was his hundred, a monumental effort that took England to 325 for nine on an opening day limited to 74 overs by Australian tardiness and cynicism.
At the 30th time of asking, and with the Ashes on the line, he had ticked the last remaining box on his CV, and a crowd of 37,000 – or most of it, anyway – rose to acclaim one of the modern greats. He had done it at the Gabba, too, scene of so much English heartbreak, and under lights against Mitchell Starc, the pink-ball king who buttressed his reputation with six more wickets.
Throw everything into the equation, and Root may one day declare it his greatest innings, though that may depend on how this game unfolds.
It’s not that he has no worlds left to conquer: he can say that only if England regain the urn. But it was a scratch that had turned into a sore, and it need trouble him no longer. It was a day when the Root subplot, apparently undiscussed in the dressing-room, was very much the main storyline.
Some had suggested that the question of his greatness would remain up for grabs if he left Australia without adding to the 39 hundreds he had arrived with. That, of course, was nonsense. Even so, the relief must be enormous.
It nearly went horribly wrong. Moments after Starc removed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks to leave England staggering at five for two after Ben Stokes won the toss, Root – on two – edged him into the slips. Steve Smith dived low to his left from second slip, and nearly grabbed a tough chance. That would have been seven for three, and quite possibly game over, and the series too.
Instead, Root set about repairing England’s innings with the help of Zak Crawley, who put his Perth pair behind him to unfurl the kind of thumping drives that have maintained the management’s faith. By the time he underedged a pull off Michael Neser, he had made 76 and taken part in a restorative stand of 117.
Root had 41 at that point, and the lights were soon coming on. As others came and went, he resolved to stick it out, carefully adding 36 runs in the middle session, then walking out to bat again with the skies now black. The situation required class and steel. Frankly, he was the only man with the skills for the job.
Not everyone had read the memo, penned after England’s two-day defeat in Perth, about the importance of identifying key moments. Harry Brook moved skittishly to 31 before edging an awful drive off Starc to Smith at second slip, before Stokes was superbly run out by a direct hit from Josh Inglis, who had only one stump to aim at after Stokes was rightly sent back by Root.
If Stokes was furious after playing pragmatically for 19, Brook had simply provided more fodder for critics who disregard his Test average of 55 and wonder why he seems determined not to put talents to their best use.
Starc had only just returned for a new spell, and the second interval was approaching. It was a poor shot in any case, but doubly so considering both the situation of the game and the nature of his second-innings dismissal in Perth. Up in the commentary box, his fellow Yorkshireman Michael Vaughan spoke for the nation: ‘Oh, Harry!’
Jamie Smith was bowled for a duck by Scott Boland to make it 211 for six, but Will Jacks played nicely for 19 until edging a wild swipe off Starc, with Root now on 98 and fans of both nationalities on the edge of their seats. Then, with Alex Carey standing up to the stumps, Root glanced Boland for four, and the weight was lifted.
But England needed more, and he was not done. After Starc got rid of Gus Atkinson, thanks to a wonderful running catch by Carey, and Brydon Carse in the same over, Steve Smith slowed down Australia’s already funereal over-rate in a bid to limit the time his own side might have to bat under lights.
The ploy backfired horribly, as Root and Jofra Archer made merry in an unbroken stand of 61 in 7.2 overs, Root even pulling out his reverse scoop to help Boland for six.
By the close, Australia’s over-reliance on Starc was beginning to tell. With Pat Cummins not yet fit enough to make what would have been a surprise return, and off-spinner Nathan Lyon unaccountably omitted for the first time in 69 home Tests, the Australians could offer nothing else but a diet of right-arm seam.
Brendan Doggett and Neser are solid professionals, but it was not in Australia’s pre-series plans to field both as early as the second Test, if at all. Their combined figures were 28–4–119–1. Throw in Cameron Green’s eight wicketless overs for 43, and Boland’s one for 87, and Australia were as grateful for Starc as England were for Root.
A day that had begun poignantly with a minute’s silence for Robin Smith, who died earlier this week, finished in noisy adulation, as Root walked off with an unbeaten 135 to his name, to the handshakes of the Australians and a standing ovation from almost everyone else.
No team have lost a pink-ball Test after scoring at least 260 in the game’s first innings. Thanks to Root, England were in the contest.
