text: Michael Clarke celebrates reaching his century against England in the third Ashes Test. When he scores big runs the team do well. Photograph: Philip Brown/Reuters
  
  When I played in the Australia team the captains were all nerds. Allan Border was a nerd, Mark Taylor was a nerd, Steve Waugh was definitely a nerd and Ricky Ponting too. The incumbent is a bit different. Michael Clarke is a Julio.
  
  That was how we categorised ourselves in the dressing room – you were either a nerd or a Julio. Julios have got to look perfect – the hair has got to be perfect, they've got to have the right gear on, it's all about their appearance. The nerds weren't bothered about how they looked. The result was all and if you looked a mess it didn't matter as long as you achieved what you wanted to achieve.
  
  In that sense "Pup", Julio though he may be and a very different character to the men I played under, is just the same as those Australia captains of the past. He may be a very modern guy, a metrosexual, but on the field he plays it tough and expects the best from himself and his team-mates. The only time Steve Waugh thought about his clothes was when he was trying to work out what was clean and what was dirty – I used to be his room-mate and, particularly in the days before he was captain, he was horrendously messy – but they have that hunger to win in common.
  
  The first time I came across Michael in Aussie colours was on his Test debut in Bangalore on our tour of India in 2004. From the moment he came into the national side he was always a fairly confident guy – and he scored 151 in the first dig so it was well placed – but he always had a lot of respect for the older players and was willing to learn.
  
  It wasn't a bad set of teachers he had either. Ponting, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, to name just a few, were all in there. That kind of environment is pretty special. In particular Warnie, who is such a good reader of the game and would've made a great captain, has passed a lot of his knowledge on to Michael.
  
  To have that sort of schooling makes a huge difference to a young player. When I first came into the set up you had players like Border, Steve and Mark Waugh, Ian Healy, Craig McDermott and David Boon – all guys that I really looked up to when I was coming through the ranks. To play alongside them is something quite remarkable and you absorb a huge amount just from watching them at close quarters and in the conversations that you have.
  
  At the time Pup first came in I'm not sure that we immediately thought: "This guy is captaincy material", because there were so many senior players and he was starting out. But when you think back he always had that potential and by the time Ricky retired he was the obvious choice. He has developed into a great captain. There's quite a contrast in style with Alastair Cook. While Cook is very structured in his approach to the game, Pup adjusts a lot quicker to the match situation. It's one of his real strengths.
  
  I wouldn't really say that he's a student of the game, with his head buried in cricket books. I've known players who have been cricket, cricket, cricket – there's a reason why we call Mike Hussey Mr Cricket – and Michael isn't in the same league on that score. He's not a real stickler for the history of the game either, though he recognises that it is important, puts a bit of time and effort into it and treats it with respect. Generally he tries to be more of an all-round package. It'll be very interesting to see when he hangs up his boots whether he goes into commentating or coaching, or whether he goes off and does something completely different.
  
  An Australian prime minister once said that his job was the second most important job in the country – behind being captain of the cricket team. It's not a job you take on lightly. And with Pup being the prize wicket in the batting order as well as the captain there is a lot on his shoulders. But that is what he enjoys – he enjoys being the focus, the centre of attention, the one that is expected to go out there and do a job. Some people get in that position and wilt. They can't handle it. Michael, on the other hand, seems to thrive on it.
  
  When he scores big runs the team do well. He's the man who sets the standards for his team-mates – and he'll need to set the bar high again at Durham.
summary: Glenn McGrath: Great Australia captains such as Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting have all been nerds but Clarke is a Julio