Monday, 30th April 2007 at 10:19 am

Three in a row for Aussies

The final was a farce, a wholly appropriate way for a drawn-out and poorly managed tournament to draw to a close. But despite the embarrassing conclusion in the gloom of the Kensington Oval, Australia still deserve to celebrate a quite outstanding tournament. In 2003 they were unbeaten, and played apparently flawless cricket; somehow, the team was even better in 2007, with nobody able to touch them.

When you consider that the team was missing the injured Brett Lee, and that Shane Warne was no longer part of the squad, the depth of Australian cricket is remarkable. Matthew Hayden, until a few years ago a peripheral figure in one-day cricket, has been imperious at the top of the order. Ricky Ponting remains the game’s most complete batsman, Adam Gilchrist reminded the world in the final just how brutal he is, and Nathan Bracken and Brad Hogg are two of cricket-s most under-rated batsmen. And then there’s Glenn McGrath…

As swansongs go, McGrath’s was perfectly scripted. Most wickets in the tournament, most wickets in World Cup history, player of the tournament - bar a one-day hundred, McGrath couldn’t have done any better. And given that the middle order barely got a look-in at the crease, let alone the tail, there wasn’t a chance for McGrath to make a cameo appearance with the bat.

So he did what he needed to with the ball instead - and as the third trophy in a row illustrates, his Australian team, with ‘Pigeon’ at the helm, wrapped up another perfect tournament. So it’s 2011, then, for the next chance to try and stop Australia’s World Cup juggernaut…