Enough already, Australia

29 April 2007

The last time Australia didn't win the World Cup, Nelson Mandela was still the president, the Tri-Nations was the newest thing on rugby's block, and one-day cricket was interesting. Sort of.

How times have changed since the 1996, when Sri Lanka - who not many years before had been what Bangladesh is to cricket now - swept to a stirring triumph.

Since those heady days, however, we have had to put up with one domineering Australian team after another. Saturday's events in Barbados, where Ricky Ponting's team bullied Sri Lanka to defeat by 53 runs in the final of the 2007 World Cup, was a case in point.

Actually, we could almost say that Australia won the World Cup twice on Saturday, what with the umpires calling the players back to endure the last few futile overs in the dark even after the Ponting's team had begun celebrating their win and television had beamed the result worldwide.

And who said there would be no day-night games at this World Cup? The dismal gloom that the tournament fizzled out in at Kensington Oval certainly was not daylight.

All well and good - the Aussies make worthy champions, and besides it's up to their opponents to beat them. If those opponents can't manage that, why should the Australians worry?

But here's hoping that by 2011, when the World Cup will return to the Asian subcontinent, the result of the final will not be obvious after the first round of matches, as it has been in the Caribbean for two months now.

With a significant number of Australia's stalwarts on their way to retirement, that may not be an empty hope.

Of course, there are a lot more talented Aussies where these came from. But they will surely not match (immediately, anyway) a side that will go down among the great sides.

Yes, they are a fantastic team, one of the finest ever. We know that. We have known it for 12 years. We do not need to be reminded of the fact.

So, enough already, Australia: go away.

by Telford Vice