Joe Root was mocked and ridiculed by the Australian press for his lack of a century on their soil, especially after the crushing defeat in the Perth Test. The Englishman bounced back in style at the Gabba, flipping the narrative while keeping the Ashes alive and kicking.
Less than a fortnight after being dismissed as a “dud” Down Under, Root broke a decade-old drought with his first Test century in Australia on Thursday, breathing life into England’s Ashes campaign in Brisbane.
The England maestro finished unbeaten on 138 from 206 balls, steering his side to a competitive 334 all out in the pink-ball Test and delivering the most emphatic reply to the media storm that had followed him into the series.
Root’s arrival in Perth for the opener was greeted with scorn. Local media seized upon his longstanding inability to convert starts into hundreds in Australia, despite more than 900 runs across previous tours. When Mitchell Starc removed him twice for single-figure scores in a crushing two-day defeat at Perth Stadium, the taunts reached fever pitch.
None were louder than The West Australian, whose pre-series front page screamed: “Dud Root Down Under: Hero in the homeland but pretender in Australia. The stats that haunt England’s greatest batter ahead of Ashes showdown.” The paper gleefully highlighted his career average of 33.33 in Australia and christened him “Average Joe”.
Four years earlier, Root had come agonisingly close at the same venue, falling for 89 to Cameron Green in an innings that triggered yet another England collapse. This time, walking in at 5 for 2 after Starc had shredded the top order once more, he refused to let history repeat itself.
With Zak Crawley (76 from 93 balls), he rebuilt through a fluent 117-run fourth-wicket partnership. After Crawley departed, Root took complete charge, farming the strike, rotating intelligently and punishing anything loose with trademark elegance. He reached his hundred, his 40th in Test cricket, becoming just the fourth man after Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45) and Ricky Ponting (41) to the milestone.
In doing so, he joined Maurice Leyland as only the second Englishman to score a century on the opening day of a Gabba Test, and the eighth overall to reach three figures at the famous Brisbane venue. The innings also carried Root past 1,000 Test runs in Australia.
To its credit, The West Australian wasted little time eating humble pie. Friday’s front page carried a celebratory image of Root acknowledging the applause with the headline “He’s not a bad Root after all” and the admission, “Average Joe finally scores big in Australia.”
Even the tail contributed to the feel-good story. Root found an unlikely ally in Jofra Archer as the pair added 70 for the last wicket, the highest last-wicket stand in day-night Test history, surpassing the 59 by New Zealand’s Tom Blundell and Blair Tickner against England in 2023.
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