Cricketing Nations at the Turn of The Century : AUSTRALIA

The only team to win the world cup after the West Indies has had a longstanding history of producing great and winning fiercely competitive tournaments. The team's consistency is impeccable and almost hard to believe. Their recent success was not unexpected and those who have been followers of the game were sure that the team would bounce back and achieve something special and that special moment came when Steve Waugh held aloft the World Cup 99 trophy.

One of Australia's best and easily the best leg-is spinner's the world has ever seen was produced by Australia. Shane Warne started his career of in explosive fashion and bamboozled batsmen all over the world with his lethal flippers. He became the only spinner in the history of the game to take more than 300 wkts in both forms of the game. He not only is a bowler who contains batsmen but has a strike rate which fast bowlers would be proud to have. In the prime of his career he suffered a devastating shoulder injury and many thought that he would never be the same bowler again. But like any true champion he bounced back and played a major role in his team's success in the recent World Cup. Who can forget his destructive bowling in the semi-final against South Africa in which he took 5 wkts for less than 30 runs. Soon after that he demolished the touring team's from Pakistan and India and proved beyond doubt that he truly is the world's best.

Steve Waugh is another Aussie legend who has performed brilliantly through out his career and his team win many a match. His doggedness and competitive nature have helped him all along and made one of the best Australia has ever produced. Since assuming the reigns of captaincy he has matured and has lead the team from the front. The way he led his team to fight back and win the last league match against South Africa cannot be forgotten. He has played a major role in his team's success in the recent past. The World Cup victory was the icing on the cake for this great player and his legacy will be remembered by cricket fans for along time to come.

The players mentioned above have no doubt had a great influence on the team's performance but there also have been many unsung heroes in the form of Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Glen Mcgrath, Damien Fleming and Micheal Bevan. All these players are destined to become great ones and have a great future ahead of them. May be this is the start of a period for Australia the likes of which were experienced by the West Indies in the 70's and 80's.

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