AUSTRALIA'S grand show in the three-Test series against South Africa has been built around two unlikely heroes - Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.
It was only last season that Hayden regained his place in the team after two failed attempts at the top level.
And Langer's career appeared in danger little more than four months ago, when he was dropped for the start of the Ashes Test series in England and had a dreadful first class tour.
In eight of his 10 innings Langer had scored 17 or fewer so it was a great surprise when he replaced an erratic Michael Slater as Hayden's new opening partner for the fifth Test at the Oval late in August.
They had a first wicket partnership of 158, Langer made 102 retired hurt, Australia won by an innings, and the most brilliant left-handed opening combination in the history of the game was formed from nothing.
Hayden scored his fourth century this summer and his third in a row during the third Test in Sydney. By the end of the Test he took his tally of runs in a calendar year to 1391, passing Bob Simpson's 1381 made in 1964 as the most by an Australian.
Numbers more than words highlight just how profound the impact of Hayden and Langer has been.
In Sydney they put on 219, the fourth double-century opening stand between the pair in just 10 innings.
This is a staggering achievement. Never in the history of Test cricket had a left-handed top-order pair managed to put on 200. They are only the fifth opening combination of any persuasion to do it three times or more.
For a man who spent so many years trying and failing to make the grade, Hayden, 30, has become an intimate part of this world champion side.
He exploded in India with 549 runs, the most by an Australian in a three-Test series. "It's not a major objective of mine to be breaking records. I'm just really enjoying every moment that I'm playing for Australia," Hayden said.
"I think Justin really helps me out with that as well. He knows what it's like to be on the outer too. So we keep telling each other 'mate, it's not every day you can achieve a 50-run partnership or a 100-run partnership so let's enjoy it and let's make it even bigger, why not 150 or 200.
"It's a wonderful experience, sometimes you really feel like you need to pinch yourself when you're out in the middle when you look down at the coat of arms on your shirt and think to yourself 'Are we playing Test cricket here or what?'"
In the ever-fading gloom of the second day in Melbourne they both passed 500 runs for the season, an amazing achievement given where their careers have been over the last year or two.
The pair have been the springboards to putting South Africa instantly under pressure and helping to build totals which gives Australia's imposing bowlers ample opportunity to continually attack.
Hayden credits hard work and former Indian spinning greats Bishan Bedi and Venkat with his great improvement in India, the series that really launched him as a quality Test batsman.
"We had a week and a half over there where we just practised against spin and then I was able to go straight into a county summer and you face a lot of spin in county cricket," he said.
"Early in my career I never really felt like I was going to get out to spin a great deal but I never really believed I could score quickly off it either. Now I can use it as a bit of a springboard to the tempo of my innings.
"It enables you to score quickly and the team to score quickly.
"I've been fortunate enough to take my poor performances in Test cricket and use them to work on becoming a better player and I guess one of the things I could control was my ability to play spin bowling, which helped me gather a lot of momentum in India and set up some really big scores.
"That was a key factor this year. Without India I'd be nowhere near this record. It really gets the tempo of my innings going, I can hit boundaries and work the ball away. I never seem to be stuck on strike or under pressure and it's set up my play well."
Hayden and Langer are great mates. That continually comes across in the way they always encourage each other and how relaxed they are in each other's presence.
"If I was asked who I wanted to open with out of anyone in the world it would be Alfie (Langer) simply because we've been through the ups and downs together. We've shared a lot of the common threads in our adversity. We are good mates. The reality of the situation is we're always going to look after each other and I think based on that we've got a very special partnership on the field as well as off the field.
"It's a good combination, it's an exciting combination."
Off the field Hayden is an easy-going country lad from Queensland's sometimes hot and harsh Darling Downs who enjoys the outdoor life. "I love my surfing and love my fishing, and I really enjoy spending time at home. I've got a great family life and it's something I really enjoy. It certainly gives you great strength. You talk about faith and family life, it gives you a lot of strength going into this career because this is a bloody hard life, there's no doubt about it.
"You're always under a lot of pressure and often times that's a lot of pressure that can't be avoided. The build-up to a Test match ... who's not going to be nervous. So having that solid foundation behind you is something that really does help you out."
Hayden's first opportunity came on the 1994 tour of South Africa when Mark Taylor pulled out on the morning of the first Test through illness. Hayden failed in both innings and suffered a broken finger after being hit by a lifting delivery from Allan Donald.
"The first opportunity only came about because of luck," he said. "I could have made 300 runs and I was never going to play another game in that series. So I don't really sort of count that.
"The second opportunity was also a difficult time because the opening partnership was with Mark Taylor and he was really struggling at the time as well.
"I understand my game so much better now. I'm enjoying my cricket a lot. It's a great feeling. In a fishing contest, it's like going out to fish and knowing you have to catch fish rather than actually just going out and enjoying the fact you're out in the boat all day. If a fish comes along, it's a bonus."
Langer is proudly West Australian and is now the most successful Australian batsman from that state. It is no surprise then who he looked up to as a youngster.
"Kim Hughes was always my hero," Langer said. "I scored my first century at 13 years old with a Kim Hughes bat that dad had bought at auction.
"He was someone I loved to watch bat and to go past him was a surreal feeling.
"I like to think that at the end of my career I would have scored a few more hundreds and someone else (from WA) can chase that target."
He paid tribute not only to Hughes but also Graeme Wood as the two batsmen he most admired while coming through the junior ranks.
"Graeme Wood was an outstanding player and another one I looked up to," he said. "He would twiddle his toes and have fast footwork.
"You judge someone's character by how you come back from adversity and sometimes you have to hit the absolute depths before you start climbing up again.
"I am happy to go through those tough times in England because I've learnt massive lessons."
During the first Test in Adelaide Langer reached his 11th Test century with a tugged six over long-on, inspiring him to describe the shot as: "A beautiful moment in my life."
The way he and Hayden are playing, it seems there will be more to come.
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