Australia Prime Minister John Howard led the tributes to retiring cricket captain Steve Waugh, who announced today he was pulling up stumps in January.
Howard said Waugh was a great player who had made a wonderful contribution to cricket. "He's been a wonderful captain, a wonderful batsman, a gritty, determined competitor," said Howard.
"His colleagues and his opponents respect his great determination and tenacity and I think he's made a wonderful contribution and I salute him and I know all cricket lovers feel the same."
Former Australia captain Kim Hughes said Waugh was more than just a cricketer.
"As far as Australia is concerned he is a great Australian," said Hughes. "I think he's taken cricket to another level, he's not just a cricketer but a statesman."
Former test wicketkeeper Ian Healy, a long-time team mate of Waugh, praised Waugh for his involvement in helping establish a players' union.
"He was one of five or six senior players that put their reputations on the line to stand up to the Australian Cricket Board in 1997," Healy said.
"We all had things written about us and our wages published and he was one of them. All those senior players at the time played a very big role in just improving slightly the conditions for our first-class cricketers."
Australia's current wicketkeeper and one-day vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said Waugh had been instrumental in restoring pride to the baggy green cap.
"I'm not saying players before him didn't play with pride and value it but he's the main driver behind that passion and the aura of the baggy green," Gilchrist said.