Little more than a year ago, Australia's new one-day captain Ricky Ponting showed he was not just one of the boys by delivering a firm message that the country's best young pace bowler in years, Brett Lee, would have to improve his one-day game.
Lee was averaging more than three wickets a match, but it was his tendency to concede too many runs in the process - an average of 4.95 an over, which could deviate alarmingly on his bad days - that was worrying his captain.
In the time since, the NSW speedster has responded. In the past 12 months, Lee has led world bowlers in the shorter form of the game by taking 66 wickets in 32 matches before Sunday's closing match of the Caribbean series in Grenada.
The 26-year-old has brought his runs-conceded average to 4.45 an over in the 12-month period, while his strike rate of a wicket every four overs has been bettered only by New Zealander Andre Adams.
It is with much satisfaction - along with a World Cup trophy and a record 21-match winning streak to which Lee has contributed significantly - that Ponting was able to appraise his paceman's efforts.
Ponting said the improvement in Lee's form had been noticeable since midway through the triangular series at home last summer, which he ended by taking 5-30 in the second final against England at the MCG.
"It's improved a lot, there's no doubt about that, since about halfway through the VB Series in Australia last year," Ponting said.
"I think he just learnt a lot about himself and what it takes for him to be successful in one-day cricket and the best way for him to bowl. He has just continued on and kept doing that for a long time."
Lee, who boasts the second-best career strike-rate of anyone to take more than 50 one-day wickets - 27.21 to Kiwi Shane Bond's 26.86 - attributes much of his improvement to the Australian selectors' move to send him back to Pura Cup during the first two Ashes Tests.
"I've had a really good season, the ball has come out well since we went to Kenya," Lee said, referring to the one-day series, moved from Pakistan, which late last August began the nine-month campaign that Australia finished on Sunday night.
"After being dropped it had a positive and negative effect. It made me work a lot harder and after I went back and played those couple of Pura Cup matches I felt I got that rhythm and confidence back.
"That was a very hard period to go through but once I got through that and backed myself the wickets started to come. It's amazing once you get a bit of a roll going. It's been a weird 12 months but certainly the last few I've really enjoyed."
Lee was the leading wicket-taker of the current series heading into the last game, with 11.
There were some who opined that Lee's form struggles late last year were the result of an unsettled mind stemming from playing under one captain - Ponting - who wanted him to tighten up, and another - Steve Waugh - who wanted him to bowl fast.
"I can't see a reason why you can't bowl fast and still bowl accurately," Lee said.
-Trevor Marshallsea in St George's, Grenada