Ricky Ponting has stopped short of anointing Matthew Hayden as the greatest opening batsman in Test history...but only just.
On chaperone duty as the Queenslander farewelled the playground that has been his 20-year professional cricket career, the Test captain said Australia had never seen a finer facer of the new ball.
''I don't think there's any doubt about that,'' said Ponting, before hinting that Hayden's record may even be enough to nudge him ahead of Sutcliffe, Hobbs, Gavaskar, Greenidge and company on the list of the best openers ever. ----------- YOUR SAY: Post a tribute PHOTOS: Matthew Hayden retires -----------
"You can even look back through the history books of the game and try and see whether there's ever been a better opening batsman in the game, let alone Australia.
"If you look at numbers that stack up next to his name ... 103 Tests, 30-odd Test hundreds, averaged over 50, that's a pretty hard thing to do for an opening batsman and, well, no one else has ever done it. That says a lot about him."
As well as his myriad individual highs, Ponting paid tribute to Hayden's influence on the "culture and ethos of the team" and the leading hand he played in the wildly successful bond he shared with Justin Langer.
"His opening partnership with Justin in Test cricket will always be remembered as something special," he said.
"His opening partnership with [Adam] Gilchrist in one-day cricket will be something that will go down as being very special as well."
Ponting said his lasting memory of Hayden would be his determination to continually fight back under a weight of adversity that he demonstrated in the lead-up to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
"Looking back on Matt's career, the thing that probably defines him best as a person and as a cricketer was leading into that last World Cup when his one-day spot in our side was under a bit of pressure," Ponting said.
"He actually took it upon himself to reinvent his game.
"No matter what he'd done or how well he'd played, he was always trying to find different ways to become better and to make the team better. That will be the legacy that he leaves."
Hayden's former teammates in the Australian Twenty20 squad, including several of his Test colleagues, were only told of his decision to retire this morning.
"Ricky mentioned to it me at breakfast this morning so I didn't know. It was a bit of a shock," said Michael Hussey, who was joined by the entire Twenty20 squad at Hayden's press conference at the Gabba.
"But I'm really happy for the guy. He's got nothing to prove in the game, he's done everything in the game really."
Hussey said the announcement had caught him by surprise as Hayden had appeared determined - at least on the surface - to mount another battle for his place in the side following a difficult summer.
"Watching him prepare for games and how he's gone about his cricket, the fire was in his belly to score runs for Australia," he said.
"He was working hard in the nets, he was doing all the right things so in my mind I thought he wanted to keep playing.
"I reckon he's such an important player so it's going to be a huge loss for us. He really does put a lot of fear into opposition teams. He's got the ability to completely destroy a bowling attack and that's why he'll go down as one of the greats."