Joe Root not only notched a first Test hundred in Australia but delivered "the innings of his life" on day one of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane, according to SportNews' Michael Atherton.Â
Still wearing the wounds of their in Perth, Ben Stokes' side looked in huge trouble again at 5-2 when Root walked out to the middle.
But England's all-time leading run-scorer hit a sublime hundred, his 40th in Test cricket, and ended the day 135 not out as the tourists closed on 325-9 at The Gabba.
"It's been a long time coming," Atherton said on SportNews Cricket's 'Ashes Daily' Podcast of Root's 13-year and 16-Test wait for a first Test century in Australia.
"The reaction when he got to a hundred, I thought it was such a fantastic moment of theatre.
"The whole ground stood to him, Aussies and English people, and the decade of disappointment put to one side.
"It was a rather funny reaction from Root, almost as if to apologise for having taken so long to get the hundred."
Atherton added: "What matters to him more than anything, is scoring crucial runs at a critical time. He was in for the 16th ball of the innings, at 5-2, so it could have gone horribly wrong.
"With Mitchell Starc knocking back [Ben] Duckett and [Ollie] Pope for ducks, all those memories of Perth flooding back, but then England's greatest run-getter played the innings of his life - because everything is on the line here.
"You listen to Ben Stokes, he was asked that question at the toss, 'is this your most important game as England captain?' He said it is, and never has he needed Root more."
Both Stokes and Root were targetted by the Australian press ahead of the series, with Stokes branded 'England's cocky captain complainer' and Root dubbed 'Average Joe' by the West Australian newspaper.
Root's innings should see an end to such headlines about him - at least for now.
"He was far from average Joe today," SportNews' Nasser Hussain told the podcast. "Let's get it crystal clear, he is one of England's all-time greatest batters and he deserved that moment, that day today.
"I very rarely get nervous watching present-day cricket, but I get did get nervous today.
"He's got 39 Test hundreds before today, and none of those I was worried about, but I was worried about this one, simply because of its significance, because of the hype, because of the chat."
Root shared in vital partnerships of 117 with Zak Crawley (76), 54 with Harry Brook and an unbroken 61 with No 11 Jofra Archer (32no) to help swing momentum England's way late in the day.
"It's a phenomenal knock," Crawley told reporters at the close of play. The ball was doing plenty when he first came in and he was so calm, and he was so clear as well about how he wanted to go about it.
"If you put everything into consideration, it's got to be one of his best."
Starc, who impressed once more for Australia, claiming 6-71 to take his series tally to a staggering 16 wickets already, was also full of praise for Root's knock at stumps.
"I'm sure he'd be relieved to get that hundred," Starc said. "He played fantastically well today, assessed the conditions, sucked up some pressure and got the result by the end of the day."
The Australian that could be counted the most relieved that Root finally got to triple figures in his home country was ex-Test opener Matthew Hayden, who'd vowed to do a nude lap around the Melbourne Cricket Ground if the Englishman's drought extended beyond this series.
"It took you a while, and there was no-one that had more skin in the game than me - literally," Hayden said in a message posted on England's social media channels.
"I was backing you for a hundred in a good way, so congratulations. You little ripper - have a beauty and bloody enjoy it."
All times UK and Ireland
