Australia now the undisputed number one

Now there is no doubt that Australia are the true world champions in cricket just as Brazil are in football. The only question now concerns which team rank at number two.

Australia defeated every team by comprehensive margins and even the ICC's number two ranked team, South Africa, suffered humiliating defeat by not even getting to the Super Six.

Going back to the football analogy, Brazil have won five World Cups while Australia have now won three cricket World Cups. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Brazil won seven consecutive matches while Australia won 11 successive matches in the 2003 ICC World Cup.

Besides Australia, the West Indies (1975 and 1979), India (1983), Pakistan (1992) and Sri Lanka (1996) won World Cups. During 2003 World Cup, Australia comprehensively defeated former World Champions Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka while the fourth former world champions, West Indies, failed to qualify for the Super Six stage and so avoided defeat by Australia.

It is interesting that Australia amassed more than 300 runs against the best bowling attacks of Pakistan (310), India (359) & Sri Lanka (319) and they also scored 301 runs against Namibia, while no team scored more than 250 against them. The highest against Australia came from Zimbabwe with 246 runs.

Just look at the records they amassed in the final. Their total of 359 is the highest innings total and 140 not out by Ricky Ponting is the highest individual innings in the final. It is only the fourth century in a World Cup final and the second by a captain, the other century-makers being Clive Lloyd (102) - captain in 1975, Vivian Richards (138) in 1979 and Aravinda de Silva (107) in 1996.

It is more interesting that the runners-up, India, took only three Australian wickets for 485 runs while Australia captured 20 Indian wickets for only 369 runs in the two World Cup matches they played against one another in South Africa.

To confirm their superiority, the Australians are unbeaten in 18 World Cup matches - a record going back to 23rd May, 1999 when Pakistan recorded a ten-run victory over them at Leeds. It is also 17 one-day internationals since Australia were beaten in this form of cricket.

Australia won three World Cups on different continents - Asia (1987), Europe (1999) & Africa (2003). In football Brazil are the only team who have won World Cups in different continents - Europe, Asia and America.

There is no doubt that the two best teams (Australia and India) played the final of ICC World Cup 2003, but Australia were far superior to the other 13 participants in the competition. I think that, compared with the two finalists, the other 12 teams played mediocre cricket in this eighth World Cup.