David Warner

Why suddenly use sandpaper? People know what was going on. "But it's been the best thing for Australian cricket because they realised it wasn't acceptable. The win-at-all-costs culture they created isn't what the Australian public needed or wanted. They'd gone too far," wrote the prolific opening batsman who retired last year after playing 161 Tests from which he scored 12472 runs at an average of 46.95 with 33 hundreds. Cook, now 34 and knighted by the government, does not include Sachin Tendulkar in his top three list of all time best batsmen and considers Smith, who has been in tremendous form in this Ashes series, as a "freak" but "extraordinary" batsman.

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"He (Smith) does not look like he is one of the best ever... but he's operating on a different level. I've always had Lara, Ponting and Kallis as the three best batsmen I've ever seen. Smith (30) is younger than me but what he is achieving is phenomenal. He's redefining what is possible as a batsman. "He is a freak in terms of his ability to play the kind of unorthodox shot, on all-fours...his God-given talent, apart from his work ethic and hand-eye co-ordination is extraordinary. He nicks the ball far less than any other player ever maybe with the exception of Sir Don Bradman. Smith just doesn't miss a ball on his pads."

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