Justin Langer has revealed how emotional he became watching the start of the recent first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Gabba.
The early November Test was Australia's first since Langer had retired after the fifth Test against England in Sydney early in January, having amassed 7696 runs at an average of 45.27 in 105 Tests and formed a famous opening combination with Matthew Hayden, his great mate and fellow left-hander.
"I was quite emotional on the first morning," Langer said of watching - on television - the first morning of the Brisbane Test.
"It was the first time since I'd announced my retirement that I realised that that was it … particularly the moment I saw Haydos (Hayden) and Phil Jaques walk across the white line."
"I felt that was quite an emotional time for me, but life goes on and I'm sure the decision I made was the right one. But having done it for so long - and people know how passionate I was about playing for Australia - that was an emotional first morning."
On the long wait from the time he announced his retirement until Australia played its next Test, Langer said: "It was good, actually. I sat back in England … I remember last year I thought it was quite unfair that there seemed to be some pressure building on me and Haydos - and they were talking about Phil Jaques then and our partnership, and I was playing really well."
"So I had to go through all of that and, in a way, I would have had to have gone through it for another 11 months because of my age or whatever."
"So from that point of view, that was nice. I quite enjoyed watching the pressure on Phil Jaques and Chris Rogers (for his opening position). For the first time in 10 years, I haven't had to worry about it … I mean, that was quite nice for me."
"It was interesting to see both of them - in periods of county cricket - struggling, and I'm sure it was because they were putting so much pressure on themselves. Having lived through that, I was watching with a smile rather than having to worry too much about it."
Langer said Jaques had looked 'very good' scoring 100 (in Brisbane) and 150 and 68 (Hobart) against Sri Lanka, "His insatiable hunger for runs - that's the thing that strikes me most about him," added Langer.
"He's shown it in Test cricket, but whether he plays club cricket or state cricket or county cricket, he makes so many runs. I've only ever watched him from first slip because I've played against him a few times."
"I've only ever seen him from behind the stumps and he looks quite an unorthodox player. But I've watched him quite closely and I think he's actually a lot more orthodox … he's got an unusual stance, but he's very orthodox. And I love the way how closely he watches the ball."
"You see the great sportsmen - (Roger) Federer playing tennis - and Phil Jaques watches the ball so closely, and that's the sign of a very good player."
Langer, 37 two days ago (November 21), scored 34 for Western Australia against South Australia on Friday, the first day of the Pura Cup match at Adelaide Oval.
Asked how he was enjoying his cricket now, "Yeah, it's going well. It's obviously different but I'm enjoying actually playing cricket," he said.
"I had a great time in (English) county cricket (captaining Somerset this year and lifting the club into the first division, and he is returning next year). We had a lot of success there."
"It's nice to come back … and Tommy (Moody, WA's new coach) is obviously godfather to my third daughter. We've been mates a long time and we've played together, so it's nice to be playing in this very professional environment again."
"It's been something West Australian cricket has probably lacked for a long time, and it's just brilliant to be playing in this environment."