The unlikely amazement of Howard

Australian Prime Minister John Howard will be an amazed man if Australia don't win the World Cup. "This is an incredibly consistent and strong Australian team and the ease in which we defeated South Africa a few hours ago is a very good omen," Howard told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Howard is known to be a huge fan of the game and can be seen more often than not at the Sydney Cricket Ground for Australia's home Tests. He said that Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, was sure to tell his players not to be complacent. "That's one of the reasons why he keeps winning: he never takes things for granted and nobody should do that in sport or indeed in anything else," he said with a fearful finality.