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Australia far ahead of the rest, but not invincible
Johannesburg, Mar 24: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting says the World Cup had exposed the huge gap between his side and the rest of the teams but did not think the Aussies were unbeatable.
"You have to realise that India are a very good side and we have beaten them pretty comprehensively. That in itself says we are a fair way ahead of what was the second best side in the world cup," Ponting said.
It spoke volumes about the "great depth and character" of the Australian side that it had won the World Cup without the services of match-winning performers, Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie, and just a year the legendary Waugh brothers were left out of the one-day squad.
"It says a lot. We have been really tested through this World Cup. But guys like Andrew Symonds and Andy Bichel have come in and put their hands up and performed brilliantly. It just goes on to show the kind of depth there is in Australian cricket," he said.
Ponting, however, was reluctant to describe his side as invincibles.
"I am not one of those who believe in these things. For
us it is important we do the things the way we want it and
keep our standards high.
"It is maintaining our standards which interests me. I am
not one of those who hanker a great deal about such titles,"
he said.
Australian coach John Buchanan said there were many areas
where the side needed to improve its standards.
"There are quite a few areas where we need to do a bit of
work. It is just that whatever others do we are doing a bit
better and more consistently," Buchanan said.
"A lot of countries around the world are already looking
deeply into the Australian way of performance and trying to
imbibe our methods which is good and suggests that the gap
would close in future. What we are trying to do is to increase
the gap further so that Australia remains ahead of the rest,"
he said.
Ponting said the key to his side's success was that it
had been able to raise its standards in the big games.
"The Australian team tends to lift itself in big games.
And we managed to do that again in the final. We took things
to a new level," he said.
"The most pleasing thing about this World Cup is that we
have done it all fairly quietly. We have gone about our
business in the right way. Our preparation has been great. Our
whole squad has been sensational."
Bureau Report