Joe Root finally scores an Ashes century for England in Australia, and makes it a big one

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — After waiting a dozen years and 15 tests matches, Joe Root took a little extra time to savor his first Ashes hundred in Australia.

He took off his batting helmet, kissed the badge and held up his bat to celebrate the milestone in front of a capacity crowd of 37,117 at the Gabba on Day 1 of the second test. The Barmy Army, the Aussies and the neutrals sang his name in unison.

“Even Australians have to admit he is a great now,” former England captain Alastair Cook said on broadcaster TNT Sports.

The English veteran — Root will turn 35 before the year is out — arrived in Australia last month to newspaper headlines describing him as “Average Joe,” deriding the No. 1-ranked test batter for two glaring omissions on his record in the Ashes.

He’d never won a test match in Australia and had never posted a century in an Ashes contest Down Under, despite accumulating 39 elsewhere.

Root finally checked off one of the few milestones missing from his impressive cricket CV with an unbeaten 135 on Thursday.

The drought Down Under that dated to 2013 ended when he reached triple figures under lights in the day-night match at the Gabba, against the pink ball.

“It was a technical masterclass from England’s best player,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said on Australian TV coverage.

Root is on his fourth Ashes tour to Australia, where his previous highest test score was 89.

He scored 0 and 8 in the eight-wicket loss in the series-opener in Perth last month, increasing the pressure on his form.

Root was 88 not out at drinks midway through the night session. He moved into the 90s for the first time in Australia with a boundary off Brendan Doggett. He hit another boundary next ball to go to 96.

With Root on 98, Will Jacks chased a wild shot against Mitchell Starc and was out for 19 to end their 40-run stand. England was 251-7.

Not to be outdone again, Root reached the century with a legside boundary against Scott Boland to his great relief, and to the great relief of his decidedly more nervous teammates.

The England and Wales Cricket Board wrote on X: “No doubt before. No doubt now. A true great of the game.”

Shaky start

It was Root’s 40th century in his 160th test. He is already the second highest run-scorer in history — his 13,600-plus test runs are second only to India great Sachin Tendulkar.

Root went to the crease in the third over with England reeling at 5-2 after Starc’s opening burst.

After edging Starc through the slips early, Root reached his half-century from 83 deliveries. And, after surviving two reviews by the Australians for lbw, his breakthrough century came off 181 balls.

He shared vital partnerships of 117 with Zac Crawley (76), 54 with Harry Brook (31) and 44 with Ben Stokes. He and No. 11 Jofra Archer shared an unbroken 61-run stand to take England to 325-9 at stumps.

Crawley said Root’s knock was flawless.

“It’s a phenomenal knock,” Crawley said. 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, yeah, it’s got to be one of his best.”

Starc took six wickets but couldn’t claim Root, too.

“I’m sure he’d be relieved to get that 100,” Starc said. “He played fantastically well today and assessed the conditions, sucked up some pressure, and got the result by the end of the day.”

One Australian relieved that Root got triple figures 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.

He sent his congratulations to Root in a video message to England Cricket.

“It took you a while and there was no one that had more skin in the game than me, literally,” Hayden, now working as a commentator, said. “I was backing you for a hundred in a good way, so congratulations.”

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