‘Will walk nude if...’: How Joe Root spared ex-Aussie star Matthew Hayden the blushes

If there was one Australian who was happy with England’s star batter Joe Root finally getting his maiden century in Australia, it was former opener-turned-commentator Matthew Hayden.

On a day when Root stayed true to his name, and almost single-handedly thwarted the Aussie attack with an unbeaten 135 off 202 balls on day one of the second Ashes (day-night) Test in Brisbane, much of the attention – on social media, in particular – was on whether Hayden will stay true to his word.

The burly cricketer-turned-commentator had promised to walked naked around the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) if Root failed to score a century in the ongoing Ashes series. Speaking on a podcast on YouTube in September, Hayden had said: "I will walk nude around the MCG if he doesn't make a hundred this summer."

Root saved him the blushes with his first Ashes century after a long wait of 12 years and 15 Test matches. He stitched crucial partnerships of 117 with Zac Crawley (76), 61 with Jofra Archer (32) and 54 with Harry Brook (31) to take England to a respectable 325/9 on day one.

In a video message shared by England Cricket on X, Hayden said, "Congratulations mate, on a hundred here in Australia. Took you a while and there was no one that had more skin in the game than me, literally. I was backing you for a hundred in a good way....”

Interestingly, Hayden's daughter Grace, too, thanked Root for saving "all our eyes", on Instagram stories.

‘Even Australians have to admit Joe Root is a great now’

It’s not every day that you find the Barmy Army, Australian fans and neutral supporters all cheering an English cricketer. But, such was the occasion, that the crowd applauded as one when Root, 34, removed his helmet, kissed the England badge, and raised his bat to the cheering crowd of over 37,000 at the Gabba, after scoring his 40^th Test ton.

"Even Australians have to admit he is a great now," said ex-England skipper Alastair Cook on air. Root was mocked by the Aussie media with the nickname ‘Average Joe’ when he arrived in Australia last month, as he had never won a Test match Down Under or scored a hundred in an Ashes series on their soil. This is his fourth Ashes tour to Australia, and Root’s best score before this was just 89. And with scores of 0 and eight in the first Test in Perth, which England lost, the pressure was mounting.

"It was a technical masterclass from England's best player," said another former England captain Michael Vaughan.

The England and Wales Cricket Board posted on X (formerly Twitter): "No doubt before. No doubt now. A true great of the game."

Playing in his 160th Test match, Root is already the second-highest run-scorer in the history of the format, with his 13,600-plus runs trailing only Sachin Tendulkar.

Mitchell Starc goes past Pakistan legend Wasim Akram

Root’s much-awaited century overshadowed yet another fiery spell from Australia’s left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who picked up 6/71 to blow away the visitors. With one more English wicket to go, he might equal his haul in the first innings of the first Test in Perth.

Starc dismissed Harry Brook, to scalp his 415th career wicket to surpass Pakistan great Wasim Akram (414 from 104 Tests) as the most successful left-arm fast bowler in Test cricket.

“He's still still the pinnacle of left-armers,” Starc said of Akram. “It's nice to be spoken of up around that but I'll just try to keep churning a few out.”