Australian players sheltered behind dark glasses on Monday at a public reception the day after their victory over New Zealand in theCricket World Cup final.
Captain Michael Clarke carried the World Cup trophy and, as the players mounted the stage in front of thousands of fans at open-air Federation Square, they smiled wanly and waved to the crowd.
Clarke was asked what the over-riding emotion was on the day after Australia had achieved its fifth World Cup and he grinned and said: “We are all a bit hung over to be honest.”
It had been a late night, and an even earlier morning. Australian newspapers and websites ran photographs on Monday of coach Darren lehmann and players, still in their team uniforms, holding the trophy on a hotel balcony as the sun rose over Melbourne.
After speeches from the Australian deputy prime minister and other government dignitaries on Monday, Clarke told fans how vital their support had been in the team’s victory. He said the Australian side had embraced the pressure and expectation of playing at home and had executed their game plan calmly and efficiently throughout the tournament, culminating in its seven-wicket win Sunday night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The players then left the stage to mingle with the crowd, signing autographs and posing for photographs.
More than one million fans passed through the turnstiles at 49 World Cup matches in Australia and New Zealand over the six weeks of the tournament, including 93,013 at the final — the largest crowd for a single day of cricket in Australia’s history. “It was a wonderful event with many thrilling highs and magic moments which will live long in the memory,” International Cricket Council chairman N Srinivasan said on Monday. “Australia has set a new benchmark for limited-overs cricket.”
New Zealand’s adventurous style of play, allied to its essential modesty, also captured the imagination of cricket fans throughout the world. Australia carried the hopes of its nation into Sunday’s final but New Zealand carried the support of fans from other teams which had failed to make it to the Final.
Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was accused after the match of “sledging” or verbally abusing New Zealand players. He later admitted he had done so, saying it was because the New Zealanders are “too nice.” “You know whatIJ They deserved it,” Haddin said. “They were that nice to us (when the teams met in a pool match) in New Zealand and we were that uncomfortable. I said in the team meeting ‘I can’t stand for this anymore. We’re going at them as hard as we can’.”
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson refused to apologize for New Zealand’s niceness. “Different teams play the game different ways,” Hesson said. “We are pretty proud of the way we go about things.”