The relief of reaching his hundred was replaced by pure joy when Alastair Cook doubled it at the MCG to carry his bat and England on his broad shoulders towards a position where they can finally hope to defeat Australia.
What a moment it was for Cook when he played the most perfect of straight drives off Jackson Bird to take him to his fifth double hundred and surely one of the most satisfying innings of his long career.
Yes, the Ashes may have gone but there is plenty still at stake in this fourth Test, not least proof of the continuing excellence and desire of an opener who has made it perfectly clear that there is to be no dying of his light just yet.
Alastair Cook struck a magnificent double century as England established a lead over Australia on day three in Melbourne
The former England captain has finally discovered his form in this Ashes series and the Australian bowlers had no answer
Cook hits out en route to his double century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as he powered England into the lead
The England opener is all smiles as he runs through to complete his double century on day three at the MCG
Cook ended the day on 244 not out as England established a lead of 164. He was hailed by the fans as he walked off at stumps
Cook acknowledges a jubilant Barmy Army at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after reaching his double century
Cook and Stuart Broad put on a partnership of 100 for the ninth wicket as England stretched their first innings lead
Cook soaks up the acclaim of the crowd at the MCG after one of his most memorable days in Test cricket
The last thing England needed after losing the urn in Perth was a repeat of the last Ashes tour when one of their greatest teams unravelled spectacularly to crash to a 5-0 defeat that ended with the most bitter of recriminations.
There are none of the divisions within this team that ripped apart the one led by the very same Cook four years ago, even after the self-inflicted absence of their best player in Ben Stokes that has proved so costly to England this time.
At the very least England have put themselves in a position with a lead of 164 where Australia will have to play very well over the last two days to deny England what would be such a more valuable victory than any ‘dead rubber’ deserves to be.
Steve Smith twice dropped Cook during his brilliant innings – on 66 and 153 – as Australia failed to take their catches
Cook has struggled for form during this Ashes tour but belatedly found some to alleviate concerns of a 5-0 whitewash
Stuart Broad plays a shot beyond Australia wicketkeeper Tim Paine on his way to a half-century at the MCG
Stuart Broad struck a quick-fire 56 off 63 balls as England extended their first innings lead with a late flourish
Australian spinner Nathan Lyon appeals for a lbw decision during day three on what was a tricky spell for their bowlers
Stuart Broad was struck on the shoulder by a Josh Hazlewood bouncer during the early part of his innings
For that England are almost totally indebted to a batsman in Cook who relentlessly demonstrated the incredible reserves of concentration and application that remains lacking in so many of his team-mates.
Rarely in his record-breaking career can Cook have played an innings as fluent and emphatic as this as he firstly became the first Englishman to make 11 scores of 150 plus and then overtook Mahela Jayawardene, Shiv Chanderpaul and at the death Brian Lara to become the sixth highest runscorer in Test history.
And, in another record-breaking day for England’s best ever batsman, Cook reached the highest score ever made by a visiting batsman in an MCG Test overtake the mark of 208 set by the great Viv Richards. It was even by the close his highest score in Australia, overtaking his famous 235 at Brisbane in 2010.
For the latest landmark, and the size of England’s lead, Cook was indebted to the unlikely figure of Stuart Broad who provided the perfect support in an innings notable for the soft and naïve nature of so many English dismissals.
Broad has never been the batsman who once made a Test century at Lord’s against Pakistan since he was struck in the face by India’s Varun Arun three years ago but here he showed considerable guts and courage to reach 56.
Only a moment of controversy ended Broad’s defiance when Usman Khawaja was adjudged to have cleanly caught a top edged pull off Cummins even though it was impossible for the on-field umpires nor TV official Joel Wilson to know whether the catch was clean. How about doubt going to the batsman?
It was an unsatisfactory end to a quite brilliant partnership between two Englishmen who, remarkably, had only batted together once before in 113 Tests.
Australia captain Steve Smith curses his bad fortune as the ball flies wide of him and wicketkeeper Tim Paine
Josh Hazlewood leads the celebrations after taking the wicket of England’s Tom Curran (left) for four runs
Pat Cummins celebrates after taking England’s seventh wicket, that of Chris Woakes for a score of 26
Woakes plays a shot during his innings of 26 runs from 62 balls as England pushed their lead over the 100 mark
From the very first ball of their potentially match-winning ninth wicket stand of 100 Cook trusted Broad with the strike, never wasting the opportunity to take another precious single in what could still be a very close game.
Broad repaid that faith by firstly surviving a barrage of short bowling and then taking runs off an Australian attack that has not looked the same without spearhead Mitchell Starc on an MCG pitch that has suited England so much more.
This was glorious for England as they stretched a lead that only stood at 46 when Broad came in to a formidable level and Cook’s 182 to his third overseas double century just three days after his 33rd birthday on Christmas Day.
England can only hope their other frontline batsmen were watching, not least Cook’s successor as captain in Joe Root who handed Australia the perfect boost on the third morning by simply giving his wicket away.
Nathan Lyon celebrates after once again taking the wicket of his fellow spinner Moeen Ali – for a score of 20
Lyon has certainly had the better of Ali during this Ashes series, taking his wicket six times so far
Josh Hazlewood of Australia celebrates taking the wicket of Joe Root as the England captain fell for 61 on day three
Root’s habit of getting out between 50 and three figures is happening far too often for his comfort now and Root was furious with himself when he pulled Pat Cummins straight to Nathan Lyon at deep square leg.
Worse was to follow when Dawid Malan became the second England batsman to walk off after being given out lbw to Josh Hazlewood by umpire S Ravi and the second to have been found to have inside edged onto his pad.
Okay neither James Vince nor Malan clearly felt their bat on ball but where was their self-preservation instinct? Malan at the very least should have reviewed it as it was a far from plumb lbw anyway.
Perhaps the worst example of England’s fecklessness came when Moeen Ali played a frenetic, reckless innings that could have been over to any ball and betrayed his total lack of confidence with both bat and ball in this series. Moeen will be back but surely he cannot play in Sydney next week.
It was left to Chris Woakes to firstly show the frontline batsmen the way in a stand of 59 with Cook and then Broad to add to his four first innings wickets with an innings of real substance. What a day. What a performance by Cook, who ended the day with Jimmy Anderson with England 491 for nine. It may have come after the Ashes were lost but this is some consolation.
Hazlewood also took the wicket of Dawid Malan, a leg before wicket decision after the England batsman made 14
Jackson Bird fields in front of England’s Barmy Army supporters, who remained in full voice despite the Ashes being lost