De Villiers keen to prevent Australia dominance

World cricket was there in 1999, 2003 and 2007, and AB de Villiers thinks it may be there again, at least in some senses. Although the South Africa captain does not envisage his own side fighting for tournament survival, he does see Australia looming as a dominant force on the global stage again, and he would like to stop them himself if he can.

"Obviously the Aussies are the No.1 in the world at the moment in the shorter format. They're playing at home, which brings a different dimension to the whole thing, maybe a little bit of extra pressure," de Villiers said at South Africa's arrival press conference in Christchurch on Thursday. "But we're certainly one of the favorites. There's no hiding from that fact. We enjoy being one of the best teams in the world. We've beaten the Aussies not too long ago in Zimbabwe, so to have that kind of confidence that we can be the best team in the world, and at the tournament we've got the opportunity to prove it, gives us great opportunity."

South Africa beat Australia in the final of a tri-angular series in Harare last August, but lost a bilateral series 1-4 in Australia last November. Since that Zimbabwe series, Australia have been on a hot streak , winning 11 of their last 12 completed ODIs, including victories in every match of a series involving England and India. While that cannot be equated with victories at World Cups, it bodes well for the team who dominated world cricket in the early 2000s, something de Villiers has personally experienced.

De Villiers is the only member of the current South Africa squad who played at the 2007 World Cup, where Australia's authority was firmly stamped. South Africa were stubbed out of the group stage match against Australia, and annihilated in the semi-final to add to their ghosts of tournaments past. On that occasion, it was not a choke; South Africa were wholly outplayed. De Villiers, though, said those memories will have no impact on this campaign.

"I think I'm the only guy that was there back in 2007. So it's a whole different feel on the team. I have my personal lessons that I've learnt from the past, that I've learnt in every single game that I play, not only World Cups. It's just another tournament. It's an important tournament, but it's just another tournament. That's probably the biggest lesson that I've learnt," he said. "I played really good cricket in the last World Cup, and I feel confident going into this one. The boys all feel very confident."

South Africa's group has been identified as the easier of the two, not least because they avoid both host counties. Apart from Australia, de Villiers also expects New Zealand to be one of the teams to beat. "They look like a formidable team at the moment, a very dangerous side," he said. "I think McCullum is a wonderful captain and he leads the team really well."

Many would the same of de Villiers. Since taking over the captaincy, his own numbers have soared , with his average with the armband sitting at 66.72 from 60 matches compared to an overall average of 52.16. Eight of his 19 centuries have come in that time, including the fastest century in ODI cricket, off 31-balls against West Indies in Johannesburg. He cited the team culture, rather than the leadership, as the reason behind his recent success.

"I very often get credit for winning games, but I feel very confident with the team that I have. There's a lot of maturity on our team, a lot of respect, which is more important in this side for each other, and we really enjoy each other's successes," he said. "I think those things are the most important things. I feel very comfortable as a captain captaining the team at the moment. It makes it very easy for me."

Will it get more difficult with the expectant eyes of millions of South Africans, including a sports minister who asked the team not return as a "bunch of losers," watching them? Not at all, says de Villiers.

"He (The minister) always says that in all his press conferences so we're pretty used to that," he said. "Look, our country expect a lot from our sports people, and we're expected to come here and win the tournament. We understand that, and obviously there's pressure that comes with comments like that, but we don't mind that. We're here to win."

Will it get more difficult with the looming threat of Australian hegemony? The next two months will hold the answer.