Michael Clarke came of age in 2006-07, showing he could marry a mature approach with a lifetime desire to entertain. At the start of the home summer Clarke was not meant to be in the Test squad; by the end of it he was a senior player who had regained the Ashes and won his first World Cup. A tattoo scrawled on his left arm the previous winter reminded him to seize the day and he strengthened his grip from the moment Shane Watson's torn hamstring allowed his re-entry. The flamboyant edges were usually curbed and the tinkered outlook brought him 389 Ashes runs at 77.80. A century at Adelaide secured his spot, a follow-up hundred in Perth confirmed his future, and by the end of the summer he was named vice-captain of the one-day side, although a hip problem ruined his immediate leadership aspirations in New Zealand. Recovering for the World Cup, he slotted in at No. 4 and finished tenth on the tournament's run-scoring list with 436 at 87.20, a haul enhanced by the limited batting time allowed by Hayden, Gilchrist and Ponting. In 2011 Clarke could be in charge of the push for a fourth consecutive trophy. A full-time promotion to vice-captain came with Adam Gilchrist's retirement and Clarke was called into the top job in the West Indies for two limited-overs matches when Ricky Ponting succumbed to a wrist problem. He held the post for the one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin, where he displayed forthright decision making in sending his friend Andrew Symonds home for going fishing. The appointment came after another assured Test campaign, which included a century against each of Sri Lanka, India and West Indies, and he also showed he was able to deal with a high-profile private life following his engagement to the model Lara Bingle. Clarke already boasts a possibly unique claim to fame in Australian cricketing folklore: he was anointed as his country's next captain before he'd played a single Test. When he made his debut and a thrilling 151 against India at Bangalore his future looked even brighter than the yellow motorbike he received as the Man of the Match. The amazing ride continued with another stunning century on his home welcome at the Gabba, and his first Test season ended with the Allan Border Medal. Then came the fall. Barely a year after his debut he was scuffing his feet around Hobart's Bellerive Oval while receiving a call from Trevor Hohns that ended his starburst at 20 Tests. A streak of 531 runs without a century through series against Pakistan, New Zealand, England, the World XI and West Indies led to his demotion and a desire "to tighten his technique", especially in the early stages against the swinging ball. An unbeaten 201 for New South Wales in the Pura Cup was a brave and swift response, but while he remained a one-day fixture, he had to wait until the low-key series against Bangladesh to reclaim his Test place. Three muted innings forced him and his supporters to wait for the Ashes. Until his sacking in 2005 Clarke was a ravishing shotmaker with an unshakeable temperament. He did not so much take guard as take off. His arrival was typically the cue for a string of wristy, audacious flashes through the off side. All the while he radiated a pointy-elbowed elegance reminiscent of a young Greg Chappell or Mark Waugh, who, like Clarke, waited long and uncomplainingly for a Test opening and then marked the occasion with a century. Unlike Chappell and Waugh, who learned the ropes in domestic and county cricket, Clarke cut his teeth in Australia's one-day side. His impact in pyjamas was startling: he racked up 208 runs in four games before he was finally dismissed, and after 140 matches averaged in the low 40s at a strike-rate hovering in the high 70s. His bouncy fielding and searing run-outs, usually from square of the wicket, add to his value, while his left-arm tweakers cajole important breakthroughs, including six surprised Indians in the second innings of his fourth Test at Mumbai. A cricket nut since he was in nappies, Clarke honed his technique against the bowling machine at his dad's indoor centre. Affably down-to-earth, he is meticulous about his hair and adores fast cars. He is proudly patriotic too, wearing an Australian flag on the back of his bat in his early internationals, and before he played a Test he signed a record-breaking A$1.25m deal with Dunlop-Slazenger. A future star soon transformed into a genuine one, but it was not until the 2006-07 Ashes that he proved he was ready for the extra levels of responsibility. Cricinfo staff

Lilias Montcrief Porter was my grandmother on my mother's side. More details about her can be found in the Porter genealogical information put together by Betty Robertson, my cousin. She was left an orphan at the age of four when her mother Rachel, who had run away from her home In Scotland to marry someone "inappropriate", died in Toronto. No-one has been able to find to find out any information on her husband although there is a certificate of marriage in Ayr. Rachel and her sister were separated at her mother's death, her sister taken in by a friend in Toronto (Mother introduced me to a cousin in Toronto - a granddaughter of Rachel's sister who was married to a Tedman, a military man). She was in the newspaper business. Lilias was taken in by an aunt who had settled in Ottawa with her mother and sisters and and married a man with the last name of McIntosh who had a stone carving business. I remember where it was. Stone carving in Scotland had been her father's business - sculpting as well as gravestones. Her upbringing was very strict, Presbyterian I think, perhaps to ward off any wild tendencies she might have inherited from Rachel. What happened in the family is that when Rachel ran off her mother sent her son Peter to follow her and find her and report back. Peter urged his mother (a widow) to come to Canada with his sisters. I suspect it was not only that he found Rachel in poor circumstances (perhaps her husband had left her with two little ones?) or that the opportunities were good but also to escape from the shame of Rachel's escapade in straight-laced Scotland in that period - the 1820s. In any case, she brought some lovely furniture so the speculation is that the family was relatively well of f. Rachel married at 19, keen to get away from the repressive atmosphere, Nelson Davis Porter who had a thriving real estate and insurance business. They were part of the social scene in Ottawa. Gran played mah-jong with Senator's wives and others in the Establishment and was a stickler for good manners. I remember Christmas dinners around the great mahogany table (which I now have) laden with crystal, including finger bowls (which Mother had instructed me how to use), and a very special dessert, a lemon Bavarian which shimmered in the light. I was always nervous that I would do something wrong - so of course I fumbled the spoons when the maid was passing the vegs and so on. I remember the children's table at the cottage at Meach Lake (children allowed to dine with the parents on Sunday which we all were apprehensive about. I have vivid memories of the Meach Lake cottage where we (mother and Pat, Sue and I ) spent the summers until my teen years'. Grandad had built 13 bedrooms around an old stage coach house on a point half way down the lake where my cousins Sam and Dick Porter and Betty Robertson and all of us gathered on and off. Dorothy, my oldest cousin, (brought up with her sister Pamela by Gran and Grandad after her mother was drowned in shallow Lake Deschenes when a boom struck her on the head when the wind veered in an approaching storm. I thought of her as an adult, having a having a husband , Bunnie, (the charming ne'er do well) and new baby, Judy. I remember my delight at my new blue flower sprigged pajamas, the big tree outside my window where the woodpecker lived and the window I checked every day to see the sand bar where we loved to play if someone wowuld take us to it in the old red pontoon canoe. Grandad made sure all of us could swim. I never remember seeing Gran around when we were in the water. (Cynthia Steers)