Australia welcomes its triumphant cricketers
Wild partying in Barbados after the magnificent World Cup win and a 44 hour grueling trip back home did nothing to stop the enthusiasm of Australian Cricket Team when they touched Sydney’s Kingsford International Airport at 5.30 am on 3rd May.
Their tireless determination showed no signs of ebbing as they attended a press conference and also had a breakfast session with the cricket crazy Prime Minister John Howard at the SCG. They showed no signs of jet lag and attended a public reception at Martin Place where at least 10,000 people had gathered to have a peep at their heroes.
The glittering ceremony was hosted by the NSW Premier’s office and Cricket Australia. Premier Morris Iemma congratulated the team on their win and said, “For us to again go through undefeated and once again have a lot of our players peaking at the right time in the World Cup is an amazing achievement by everybody”.
The event featured a special video tribute to Glen McGrath at his last official function as an Australian player. Glenn McGrath’s stealth bowling was critical to Australia’s win in the World Cup and he was awarded the Man-of-the-Tournament honour.
The players wore their winner’s medals around their necks and each player was presented with a gold victory ring. Green and yellow confetti was blasted into the air and the beaming squad lined up for photo ops to the delight of the waiting crowds.
McGrath said “I’ve been very lucky to be involved in an era of Australian cricket that was so strong. When you walk on the field and you look around at your team-mates, every single one of those guys are big players, big game players and it makes your job a lot easier out there.” Commenting on his resignation he said he had no regrets about retiring. “Since making the decision I haven’t even given it a second thought. It’s been an amazing tour, but to get back to Australia and see the family and fans I think is really what it’s all about. I’ve been very lucky to have played as long as I have and enjoyed every minute of it, but it’s now time for me to move on, let the young guys come through and play their part. And I’ll be happy to watch it from the sidelines”, he said.
McGrath had the audience in splits when he said, “I’m not sure what I’ll do next, but I have been contemplating staying at home and looking after the kids and sending Jane out to work.”
Australian outgoing coach John Buchanan who took over the job in 1999 was also feted on the occasion and was described as the most successful cricketing coach Australia ever had.
Team captain Ricky Ponting said he was more than happy with the team’s performance. “It’s been amazing. It’s not something that we take for granted. Whenever we get a chance to play for Australia we want to be the best team we can and the best individual players that we can and over the last eight weeks I think you’ve seen the whole team play a brand of cricket that probably hasn’t been seen ever before”. He termed his job as the best in the world and said, “”It’s great fun. There’s not many jobs better in the world than the one I’ve got.”
Australia became the first team to win cricket’s World Cup for a third straight time by defeating Sri Lanka by 53 runs in the final in Barbados last weekend.
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