Early days: with my grandfather—Mum’s dad—Walter soon after I was born. I think I may have inherited my reflexes and ball skills from him. (Family collection)

First Christmas: with sister Kristie in Sydney; Melbourne would be my preferred destination during the festive season in years to come. (Family collection)

Away days: a family portrait during our time in New Zealand, our location because of Dad’s work, although we were back in Australia by the time I started school at Alford’s Point Public School. (Family collection)

Back in Australia and happy about it: at Redland Bay in Queensland, where we stayed with Mum’s parents before relocating back to Sydney. (Family collection)

Anyone for golf? Trying out one of my granddad’s clubs for size in Queensland. He only began playing after he retired but was a natural. I play occasionally, not seriously but always competitively. (Family collection)

Soccer star? Not quite. Here I am, on the right, playing for the Menai Hawks. What position did I play? The same as most children at that age: just running around after the ball! (Family collection)

All white now: dressed in what I reckon is my first set of whites and back in Sydney. I was probably five years old at this point and already the cricket bug had bitten me. (Family collection)

Old school: a portrait from Alford’s Point Public School, just around the corner from the family home. (Family collection)

Goal machine: soccer players get to keep the match ball when they score three goals; I’m not sure how many I got on this occasion but I just loved sport as a child. (Family collection)

Look at the camera! I’m not sure what distracted me during this photo but my time with Ilawong juniors was my first exposure to the team environment. (Family collection)

Cricket Christmas: by 1996 Santa was fully aware of my obsession and that year’s sack of gifts included a set of stumps, some batting gloves (below the baseball mitt), a video game and a book. I couldn’t get enough of the game, even then. (Family collection)

Model cricketer: a portrait as an under-10 player; even then I didn’t bend my front leg very much when playing forward! (Family collection)

Fostering a passion: preparing to represent the Sutherland Shire Junior Cricket Association in under-10 Foster Shield action. I obviously worked hard shaping the peak of my cap! (Family collection)

The start of something special: here I am, front right, with the 10A age-group at Ilawong Cricket Club, when my parents started to think I might have some potential in the game. All I was thinking about was how much fun I was having. (Family collection)

Milo moment: bowling at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the lunch break in the Australia–South Africa Test of 2002. Who knew I’d be back there as Australian captain 12 years later? Not me, that’s for sure. (Family collection)

Making a racket: tennis was my other real sporting passion as a child. I was never as good at it as I was at cricket but it was fun and kept me entertained and fit during the winter. (Family collection)

Dressed for success: at home in Alford’s Point with my favourite Australia One-Day International shirt, from the late 1990s. I loved that shirt and wore it all the time, as you can see by the state of it! (Family collection)

Shire enjoyment: here I am, front left, in a Sutherland Shire Junior Cricket Association team photo with my dad, a pivotal influence on my life and my cricket, just behind me. (Family collection)

It’s catching: I never stopped playing for a moment as a child, whether it was nagging my dad to bowl to me or here, getting Judy Shackle, my parents’ friend, to join me in a game of catch in the back garden at home. (Family collection)

It’s catching—again: I loved fielding, even as a child, and here I am for Ilawong demonstrating my catching skills. (Family collection)

Where it all began: going out to bat with opening partner Matt Hughston on my first-grade debut for Sutherland, against Gordon at Killara Oval, in November 2006. I scored 2 and 69 over two weekends and was on my way. (Family collection)

Baggy white: when my cricket gear got delayed in transit en route to the UK in 2007 I ended up wearing borrowed kit—including a jumper far too big for me—during my time at Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club. (© Peckasprints)

Living the dream: having fun with Tom Ward, the son of Tony and Julie Ward. They helped turn my trip to the UK in 2007 from a potential disaster to a fantastic life and cricketing experience. (Family collection)

Family times: with Dad, Mum and sister Kristie at Christmas 2011, during my time out of the Test side. (Family collection)

‘Don’t cover drive before lunch!’ Opening for the first time for Sutherland with Phil Jaques, with his advice still ringing in my ears! (Family collection)

A big bang in the Big Bash: one of my dad’s photos, of me playing for the Blues in the 2009/10 domestic Twenty20 tournament, something that catapulted me into contention for a place in the Australian side. It’s funny to see Phil Jaques over my shoulder on the advertising board, even there! (Peter Smith)

Ready for action: warming up with ball and bat for my One-Day International debut, against the West Indies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in February 2010. Note Michael Clarke stretching his back in the first photo, something he had to do just to get onto the field. (Peter Smith)

Happy days: celebrating after I had Kieron Pollard of South Australia caught by Phillip Hughes during the 2010 Big Bash League. I finished as New South Wales’ most successful bowler in the tournament with seven wickets, form that helped take me to the ICC World Twenty20 with Australia. (© Getty Images)

Baggy green dreams: another of Dad’s photos, capturing me at the nursery ground at Lord’s moments after I received my baggy green cap from Ricky Ponting ahead of my Test debut against Pakistan in 2010. (© Peter Smith)

It’s good to be back: Phillip Hughes and I share a laugh during a media conference in Perth after my recall to the Test side to face England in December 2010. I wasn’t laughing when my comments about ‘having fun’ made me a figure of fun for the opposition. (© Getty Images)

Is it a bird or a plane? Me demonstrating my aerial skills in the IPL, saving a boundary for the Pune Warriors against the Kolkata Knight Riders at a packed Eden Gardens in 2012. My time with Pune Warriors wasn’t full of joy but I love the whole IPL experience and never stop learning when playing in it. (© Getty Images)

Prior warning: celebrating the wicket of England wicketkeeper Matt Prior with Phillip Hughes during the Lord’s Test of 2013, one of the few happy moments we had as a side during that match as we were thrashed by 347 runs with a day to spare. I took four wickets but made only 2 and 1 and wondered if my return to the Test side had stalled again. (© Getty Images)

Shield success: celebrating after captaining New South Wales to success in the Sheffield Shield in 2014. I made 75 and 103 not out against Western Australia in the final in Canberra to help us seal the title, part of a dream summer for me that included two hundreds in an Ashes whitewash. (© Cricket NSW)

‘I’ve made it!’ That was my feeling as I raised my bat to acknowledge the applause for my hundred against South Africa at Centurion in February 2014. I really did feel I’d finally arrived as a Test cricketer and still rate the innings as my best and most important in that format. (© Getty Images)

‘Get back!’ I just about survive a run-out attempt while trying to save the Dubai Test against Pakistan in October 2014. I batted for long periods in the two-match series but we were thoroughly outplayed in alien conditions. (© Getty Images)

Never forgotten: acknowledging my great mate Phillip Hughes after reaching my hundred in the Adelaide Test against India in December 2014, our first match after his tragic death. (© Getty Images)

‘Good luck, mate!’ Receiving my captain’s blazer from Mark Taylor, a great mentor of mine, ahead of my first match in charge, at the Gabba in December 2014. Nathan Lyon (left) and Shaun Marsh look on approvingly. (© Getty Images)

Here goes: tossing the coin at the start of my first Test as captain, alongside match referee Jeff Crowe (in the cream hat), India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Channel Nine’s Mark Nicholas. Our security manager Frank Dimasi (with phone and sunglasses) records the moment, next to media manager Kate Hutchison. (© Getty Images)

The end of the beginning: India’s Ishant Sharma bowls me off the inside edge to end my innings of 133 in my first Test as Australian captain in Brisbane in December 2014, an effort that proved to me I could lead and score runs. (© Getty Images)

‘Good catch, Smudge!’ Being congratulated by one of my mentors, Brad Haddin, after catching Mohammed Shami during the Melbourne Test against India in December 2014. Brad’s decision not to seek the captaincy in Michael Clarke’s absence gave me the chance to lead the side. (© Getty Images)

Leg-side love affair: if a bowler strays onto my pads then I back myself to score runs more often than not and here’s another example. (© Getty Images)

Satisfaction: posing with the Allan Border Medal, awarded to Australia’s top male cricketer, in 2015. I also collected the Test and One-Day International Cricketer of the Year 2015 Awards and the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015, all part of an unforgettable few months for me and the team. (© Getty Images)

Practice makes perfect: all those years of catching drills with Dad pay off as I snare an edge from Henry Nicholls of New Zealand during our victory in Christchurch in February 2016. Our 2–0 series win took us—briefly—back to the top of the Test rankings. (© Getty Images)

‘Yes!’ Joy unconfined from me and Shane Watson after I hit the winning runs in the ICC Cricket World Cup final against New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 2015. (© Getty Images)

Mob rule: I’m engulfed by teammates after the winning moment in Melbourne. My face says everything about how I’m feeling. (© Getty Images)

Champions: celebrating with teammates and showered by tickertape as we lift the biggest prize in international cricket following our victory against the Black Caps. (© Getty Images)

Winners are grinners: lapping up the atmosphere during our lap of honour after Cricket World Cup final success. It was the climax of a remarkable season that saw us ride a rollercoaster of emotions with huge highs like this, and also the terrible low of Phillip Hughes’ death. (© Getty Images)

Turning it on again: at the bowling crease during the tour match against Kent at the start of the 2015 Ashes tour. I picked up three expensive wickets that day but ended up bowling just 11.4 overs on the trip, a reflection of my desire to concentrate on my batting. (© Getty Images)

Let’s get on the field: waiting with David Warner to take the field during the opening Ashes Test of 2015, at Cardiff. A great thinker on the game, David is a joy to play alongside and I think we make a terrific team as captain and vice-captain. (© Getty Images)

Lording it at Lord’s: I’m ecstatic after reaching my double hundred at The Home of Cricket during the Ashes series of 2015. It helped us to a series-leveling win but then successive crushing losses at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge ended our dreams of retaining the urn. (© Getty Images)

What a feeling: taking the applause from a full house at Lord’s and a standing ovation from the members in 2015 as I walk off after scoring my maiden Test double-hundred. To achieve that and for the side to go on and win the match really was a dream come true. (© Getty Images)

Worth the wait: my only wicket of the 2015 Ashes series and no wonder I look pleased, dismissing England captain Alastair Cook as we closed in on a consolation victory at The Oval. (© Getty Images)

Pause for thought: the faces of coach Darren Lehmann and myself say it all as we join in the applause to remember Phillip Hughes exactly a year after he died, during the inaugural day–night Test against New Zealand in Adelaide. It was a time to reflect on the fact that our great mate was no longer with us. (© Getty Images)

‘I’m embarrassed to be sitting here.’ Facing the media after our capitulation against South Africa in Hobart in November 2016, our fifth successive Test loss. (© Getty Images)

The gathering storm: heading out for the toss at the Sydney Cricket Ground ahead of the West Indies Test in January 2016. The grey skies were a prelude to three days of the match being washed out, condemning it to be a draw. (© Getty Images)

Winners are grinners again: celebrating with my teammates after our clean sweep of the Test series against Pakistan in the summer of 2016/17. The way we turned our form around with four successive wins was a tribute to the new players introduced and a tremendous effort after our terrible run of defeats. (© Getty Images)

Pulling out the stops: more runs as part of my 71 on the opening day of the two-match series against New Zealand, in Wellington in February 2016. (© Getty Images)

Heading for victory: celebrating my hundred in Pune in February 2017, an innings that helped set up our first Test win in India for 13 years. It was one of three centuries I scored in the series, all of them complete with my lucky headband! (© AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

Bright spot: acknowledging the applause for reaching fifty against England at Edgbaston in June’s ICC Champions Trophy. I was out soon afterwards and the match was ended early by rain. Poor weather and our on-field struggles made it a tournament to forget. (© Mike Edgerton/PA Wire)

Christmas: with partner—and now fiancée—Danielle Willis in Melbourne ahead of my first Boxing Day Test as captain, in December 2014. (© Getty Images)