Joe Root\u2019s maiden Test century on Australian soil was more than just a long-awaited personal milestone \u2014 it was also the moment that saved Matthew Hayden from fulfilling one of the most unusual promises ever made ahead of an Ashes series. The former Australian opener had famously vowed to run nude around the Melbourne Cricket Ground if Root failed to score a hundred during the 2025\u201326 Ashes. With one flick off Scott Boland under the Brisbane lights, Root ensured Hayden\u2019s dignity remained fully intact.<\/p>\n
Root brought up his 40th Test century late on Day 1 at the Gabba in the pink-ball Test, glancing a delivery fine down the leg side before raising his arms to the roar of England fans. For years, Root had carried the burden of repeated near-misses in Australia \u2014 16 Ashes Tests without a single hundred, a highest score of 89, and countless conversations around whether he could conquer conditions Down Under. This time, he delivered.<\/p>\n
Hayden, who had turned his bold guarantee into a running joke throughout the build-up, reacted almost instantly once Root reached the landmark. In a video posted by the ECB, the Aussie great slipped into trademark humour: The backstory to Hayden\u2019s promise dates weeks before the series began. Appearing on the All Over Bar the Cricket<\/em> podcast, Hayden expressed disbelief after Root was omitted from a panellist\u2019s all-time Ashes XI. In playful frustration \u2014 and typical Aussie bravado \u2014 Hayden announced that if Root didn\u2019t score a ton this summer, he would \u201cwalk nude around the MCG.\u201d The clip went viral immediately, turning Root\u2019s pursuit of a hundred into a quirky subplot of the Ashes.<\/p>\n But Root\u2019s knock was about more than social media banter. England were reeling at 5 for 2<\/strong> after a fiery opening burst from Mitchell Starc. Root steadied the innings, absorbed pressure, and rebuilt with clinical precision. His 181-ball century not only resurrected England\u2019s batting but also shifted momentum on a crucial opening day.<\/p>\n And somewhere in Australia, Hayden \u2014 arguably the happiest man not playing in the Test \u2014 breathed a massive sigh of relief.<\/p>\n Root finally has the Ashes ton he chased for more than a decade. Hayden gets to keep his clothes on. And the 2025\u201326 Ashes already has a story for the ages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Joe Root\u2019s maiden Test century on Australian soil was more than just a long-awaited personal milestone \u2014 it was also\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":32406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4057],"class_list":["post-9878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket","tag-top-stories"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cCongratulations, mate. Took you a while and there was no one who had more skin in the game than me \u2014 literally. Ten fifties and finally a hundred. You little ripper.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n