Stuart Clark

Tall, upright pace bowler who earned favourable comparisons with Glenn McGrath for his nagging accuracy even before he made an eye-catching Test debut in 2006.

In returning match figures of 9-89 against South Africa in Cape Town - the best by an Australian debutant since Bob Massie’s 17-wicket haul in 34 years - Clark showed he had the talent and temperament for the top.

Clark is also the oldest specialist fast bowler - aged 30 years and 169 days - to make his debut for the country since John 'Sam' Gannon in 1977.

He enjoyed at spell at Middlesex in the summer of 2005, during which he was twice called up to the Ashes Test squad following McGrath’s injury.

Clark, whose parents were born in England, has struggled with injuries himself in recent years, although he now appears to be performing somewhere near his best.

This was evident in the 2006-07 Ashes series when he surpassed both Shane Warne and McGrath to be the hosts' leading wicket-taker in the series, grabbing the man-of-the-match award in the final Test in Sydney.

He took 26 wickets at an amzing average of 17.03 to prove that Australia have a ready-made replacement for the retiring McGrath.

He helped Australia retain the World Cup in 2007 and continued to spearhead their attack thereafter.

Clark recovered from elbow surgery to sign for Kent at the start of the 2009 Ashes summer.