Ashes: Zak Crawley and Mitchell Starc praise Joe Root’s maiden Test century in Australia

Joe Root celebrates his century against Australia on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images

England opener Zak Crawley praised a "flawless" Joe Root after the 34-year-old broke his Australia century drought on Day One of the second Ashes Test here on Thursday.

Root had scored 39 Test centuries heading into the Ashes series, but he had never passed 100 in Australia on three previous tours. He also failed in the first Test in Perth, leading some critics to question whether the Yorkshireman could be considered one of cricket's batting greats without scoring a century on Australian soil. But he answered the doubters with a masterful 135 not out.

Crawley, who shared in a 117-run partnership with Root, said the England dressing room was more jittery than the former captain as he edged towards three figures. "We were nervous for him for a long while before that."

Crawley said Root had barely mentioned the milestone, despite it threatening to become a millstone around his neck. "He's not trying to make too much of a
deal of it, but I'm sure inside he's pretty, pretty delighted. He just played a flawless knock. He made it look effortless," said Crawley, who exorcised his own Ashes demons with his 76 after bagging a pair of ducks in Perth.

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc also paid tribute to Root. "He played fantastically well today and assessed the conditions, sucked up some pressure and got the result by the end of the day," the pacer said.

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No. of matches it took Joe Root, across four tours to Australia, to score his first Test century Down Under

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