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Waugh praises Langer after great summer

Victorious Australian skipper Steve Waugh on Monday acclaimed Justin Langer as the best batsman in the world on his current form.

The West Australian left-hander ended his supreme season in the best way with an unbeaten 122 off 122 balls in Australia's six-wicket triumph to sweep the series over New Zealand and win their 10th consecutive Test match.

"He was down and out going into the Hobart Test (against Pakistan last November) and he's come away with four centuries," Waugh said.

"At the moment -- today -- he is the best batsman in the world."

His seventh Test century featured 19 boundaries and capped a gutsy season from the No. 3 batsman. Since his heroic revival against Wasim Akram's Pakistan in Hobart, when he was probably batting for his Test future and helped Australia to come from behind to defy history and win, Langer has rattled up runs at an astonishing rate.

The winning runs on Monday pushed him to 1,003 runs from Australia's 13-match Test season, spiced by the rousing 127 in Australia's comeback win over Pakistan in Hobart, his 144 in the following third Perth Test and his fluent 223 against India in the third Sydney Test.

"Over 1000 runs? That's sweet, isn't it," Langer said.

He returned the compliments to his captain when asked about his reversal in fortunes.

"A big part of it has been (Waugh's) faith in me," Langer said.

"That's why he's had such great success as a captain because he puts such faith in his players. And it's probably a confidence thing. If you're not overawed by playing Test cricket, and that becomes better with experience, and it's a matter of sticking to what you do best.

"You have to keep it simple and if you have a single-minded approach to your batting, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a lot of success.

"I've had the year I've had because of my philosophy of working hard and getting the rewards."