Former Australian batsman Mike Hussey has heaped praise on captain Michael Clarke, who earlier announced that he would be retiring from one-day international duties following tomorrow's Cricket World Cup final.
Clarke, 33, has taken the decision in the hope that it will help to prolong his Test career.
Having scored 7,907 runs during his 244 ODI outings to date, Hussey paid tribute to his ex-teammate.
"The standards in the Australian team when Ricky Ponting was captain were as high as I can ever imagine. Michael, he's been able to raise the standards again. Raise the fitness, the skinfolds, the standards of play," Hussey told Cricket Australia's official website.
"I know he's not the one playing for all the other players out there but he's led from the front with those standards and that filtered through to the rest of the team and the rest of the squad."
Clarke made his ODI debut during a clash against England back in 2003.
