Left-hander Justin Langer took over from Matthew Hayden during 2004 as Australia's most threatening opening batsman.
While the far more physically imposing Hayden went into a prolonged slump, the diminutive Langer blasted his way to 1,481 runs in a calendar year.
Not that Hayden would resent him his success – the two men have shared in a record six double-century opening stands and are very close friends, often to be seen in affectionate bear hugs out in the middle.
Watching Langer score so many runs would not have been an enticing prospect in his early years when he was perceived as a grafter, but these days he might just as easily slog across the line in the first over as patiently defend.
He is another Australian who struggled to establish himself and he played only eight Tests in five years after his debut. But when he came back into the side as David Boon's replacement at number three he did enough to keep his place.
Steve Waugh was a huge fan, once nominating him as the "world's best batsman" and Langer's own hero-worshipping of Waugh earned him the sobriquet "mini-tugga".
Without Waugh as his guru, the serious-minded Langer has immersed himself in yoga, meditation and Taekwondo, and seems to have found an inner peace that has given him more self-confidence as a cricketer.
Like Ricky Ponting, he is a scorer of big hundreds. He made 250 at Melbourne in the last Ashes series and his last four Test tons have all been in excess of 150.
He has only played one Test innings in England, but that was 102* at the Oval in 2001 and he knows English conditions well from playing at Middlesex, where Andrew Strauss called him "the most disciplined cricketer I have ever met".
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Michael Slater's verdict: