4. Michael Clarke*.
Played 10. 728 runs at 48.5. 3 hundreds, one fifty.
This is a stat I like. These are averages over the last 25 years, excluding runs scored against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. In this table, Clarke stands only just behind Steve Waugh among Australians, and about abreast of everyone to play the game in this time.
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=battingSelf styled Captain Funky is one player who has scored runs in both innings over the year, and even when they were out of fashion, like in Manchester. His problem against the short ball has proved illusory, though he has had a little trouble on off stump. He led the Australian fightback at Old Trafford and set the standard at the Gabba and the Adelaide Oval.
A possible criticism is that he has got out in the twenties quite often. But he was the highest run scorer against England last year. And he takes credit for his part in turning Australia from the side that was humbled at Lord's, into the one that was triumphant at the WACA.
What he makes me think of: A leading member of a suburban family drugs cartel. He's not the one who goes into the houses of his debtors behaving like an erratic maniac (Mitch). He's the one that stays at home in his jogging pants and gold chains, deciding who needs to be killed.
I always say that everybody's right.