It's Aussie hegemony all the way as they win the ICC World Cup 2007

Ricky Ponting and his merry men that collective form the world's most formidable cricket juggernaut once again stamped its authority over the sport by winning the 9th edition of the Cricket World Cup in the most ruthless of fashions making mockery of the ICC ODI rankings that put Australia behind South Africa in the standings. Last night, they beat Sri Lanka in the finals comprehensively by 53 runs beating the much pegged islanders in every department of the game - be it batting, bowling or fielding.

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Before the tournament kicked off, Ponting's team was under some flak for losing the Commonwealth Bank Cup to England and then the series to New Zealand 0-3 despite putting huge scores on the board. That resulted in Australia slipping to second position behind South Africa in the now proved farcical ICC One-day International rankings.

The 2007 World Cup had been arguably the worst of all since it started in 1975. It began with the elimination of much-hyped teams - Pakistan and India in the first round itself being beaten by so-called minnows namely - Ireland and Bangladesh respectively. The design of the tournament was such that major teams would use the first round to get into the groove and strike some form playing (and expectedly beating) the minnows. However, the minnows (a derogatory term literally meaning the small fishes that are used to feed larger fishes or used as bait to catch larger fishes) turned out to be piranhas that ripped and ate up Pakistan and India. This might have been expected in some circles given the much hype that surrounded the two teams, especially India. Millions of dollars of corporate money was pumped in with cricketers from these two countries endorsing a myriad of products ranging from soft drinks to motor lubricants and from consumer durables to biscuits. Therefore to boost sales, artificial hypes were created and everything crashed down to earth with the elimination of the two teams in the first round itself.

However, the worst thing possible happened. The coach of the Pakistan team Bob Woolmer was murdered during the course of the tournament after Pakistan's exit from the World Cup. It is widely believed that the notorious betting syndicate is behind this murder as with Pakistan's loss to Ireland must have resulted in losses to the syndicate that is estimated over a billion US dollars.

But that's not the reason why a tournament should be labeled as a farcical exercise. Ricky Ponting in a pre-Cup interview told the press that 'despite Australia is the number two team, it is amazingly the favourite to win the tournament' underscoring the team's domination of the cricket world.

So, what is wrong with the present world cricket? Why should a team be pre-destined to win every major tournament on the anvil? There is nothing wrong with Australian cricket, for they have got their acts right - the structure.

Talking about the Aussie structure - it can only be compared with the Holland hockey structure and now the Aussie hockey structure. From school level to the international stage, they sing the same old song. The Cricket Academy in Australia is a thoroughly professional entity. Ricky Ponting is a product and so are many members of his merry men who love just to steamroll the opposition. That's what they had been doing in the past.

India with a billion and some in their rolls can't even produce an Olympic gold medal where as in the Sydney Olympics one of Aussie archers hit gold, a sport that is mainly associated with oriental countries! This is such a shame for us, isn't it?

Australia is one of the sporting powerhouses of the world along with the US, Spain and Germany. It is beating every country in a sport that appeals to the local populations of those countries. Pat Cashes, Ian Thorpes and Cathy Freemans notwithstanding, they have a world beating hockey team and a plethora of Olympic champs. Now, the last 3 cricket world cups and a myriad of cricket tournaments have shown that they are the best of the lot ever seen by the world.

If any team from the subcontinent are to compete with them, they have to make sure that the 'brown race' can indeed do away with corruption, nepotism and make proper planning.

The bottom-line is that the whole lot of cricket playing nations prayed for a Lankan victory. Alas! Only if god helped the underdogs. Victory belongs to those who not only toil, but plan the execution of the small battles and the larger war meticulously. God is always with the side that believes in perseverance, not with the emotions.

If only we can emulate them, it would prove not only beneficial to the corporate houses, but a hell lot more for the population. Until that happens, we must take a bow, the Australian Cricket Team is the best the world has ever seen.

The great Tendulkar, Ganguly, Kumble, Lara, Fleming, Pollock etc. could never hold a trophy called the World Cup as Nathan Bracken, Simon Tait or before them mediocre players of the Aussie team did.

Many might disagree, but honestly, the Aussie hegemony in world cricket is good. At least, it is teaching the cricketers of lessor god a thing or two in professionalism.