Brad Haddin paid tribute to captain Michael Clarke after Australia moved into a strong position on day two of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
Clarke recorded his sixth Test ton at the venue and 26th in total as his 148 underpinned his side’s 570 for nine declared.
The knock, which included a 200-run partnership with Haddin, heaped the pressure on England, who will now have to display their merits with the bat tomorrow to keep themselves in the game.
Haddin hailed his skipper’s performance, during which Clarke played the spin of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar with aplomb, and believes the 32-year-old is one of the finest batsmen around at the present time.
“I think you’ve seen since Michael has taken over (the captaincy) his batting has gone to another level,” said Haddin.
“He likes batting at this ground - I think he averages over a hundred here. He’s such a good player of spin; he’s so quick on his feet.
“When he gets past 20 he seems to go on to big hundreds. His form over the last two years has been as good as any one in the world.”
Haddin did not do too badly himself, either, the 36-year-old recording a fourth Test ton and third against England.
It was not without fortune, though, as he was dropped early on by Michael Carberry and then dismissed off a no-ball by Ben Stokes.
Haddin admitted: “I had my fair share of luck out there the last couple of days. You need to have a bit of luck in this game. You can do all the technique you want, but everyone needs luck.”
When asked about where the century ranked, he added: “I think it’s a pretty important one. It was very important that we batted deep in this first innings so to get over 500 on the board was pretty important.
“We thought that (this morning) was going to be the best time to bat. We thought we had a good opportunity to get the game moving in the first session and get the scoreboard moving over.”
However, Haddin is aware that a full day in the field could take its toll on the bowlers, who only had to cope with a short stint at the end of today's play.
“We had the luxury of only having an hour out there so we know we have a couple of big days in front of us,” he said.
“We’ve got to take 19 wickets to win this Test match so it’s important we bowl well and come up with some plans tomorrow to move on in the game.”