Jonny Bairstow hailed a “special” innings from Joe Root as the England batter ended his eight-year wait for an Ashes hundred on the first day of the series opener at Edgbaston.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, England made 393 for eight before Ben Stokes’s surprise declaration left Australia’s openers to negate a 20-minute period before the close, reaching stumps on 14 without loss.
Root’s century was his 30th in Test cricket but first against Australia since the Trent Bridge Test of 2015, the 32-year-old having gone through three series as captain without reaching three figures.
The Yorkshireman returned to the ranks after handing the leadership on to Ben Stokes last summer and shared a partnership of 121 with county teammate Bairstow on his way to an unbeaten 118 in his first Ashes innings since.
“It was brilliant, really special,” Bairstow said. “As someone has known him for a really long time, been through thick and thin, ups and downs, been through lots of different things together. It was an absolute pleasure to be out there with him. He is a fantastic player, talent.
“He’s probably got another 10 years in the game. He will be after 25,000 runs or something stupid, still playing when he’s 55. He loves batting, loves being out there, loves the occasion, loves representing his country.
“He’s been fortunate enough to captain England and held his head so high doing it through the hardest period through Covid. He held his head high through that and now reaping the rewards for it. That was a tough time.
"You see the smile on his face, the cheeky little grin, when his legs bop around as he runs through. There’s some special traits that he’s got and he does special things. That’s hopefully the first of a few through this summer.”
Root’s innings was brought to an abrupt end when Stokes called the troops in in the hope of making early inroads into Australia’s top order, with ‘keeper Bairstow admitting he took had been taken by surprise.
“We didn't know anything about it,” he added. “I'm sure he had a couple of conversations with Brendon [McCullum] and the relevant bowlers that we're gonna take it but one of them [Ollie Robinson] was out in the middle so there can't be too many people that knew about it and I definitely wasn't [one of them].
“It was a scramble to get the old tape on, pads on and the rest. But to be fair, like I said earlier on when you're not expecting something, its sometimes the best form of attack.”
