Discipline prevailed over flair and passion

Australia's cup of joy was overflowing and it was an unforgettable experience to be so close to the action as to feel part of it. To be o...

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Australia’s cup of joy was overflowing and it was an unforgettable experience to be so close to the action as to feel part of it. To be on the grass at Lord’s (and how I enjoyed tramping over it with the stewards unable to do anything!) amidst jubilant supporters, and to be inside the pavilion watching and talking to the Australians was to experience the power of happiness at work.

It was extremely uplifting for happiness is both powerful and infectious. And as I walked back after the presentation, I told Sunil Gavaskar that I now had some idea of what it must have been like sixteen years ago. He smiled, it was clear the memories were still fresh, but he threw me a question that struck me with the brutal reality it carried. “Compare the two pictures,” he said and you could see what he meant. Lord’s 1983 had a few players and lots of others anxious for a piece of glory. Lord’s 1999 was only about the players involved. It was their moment and nobody spoilt it.

Two men outside the Australian dressing roomconfirmed that fact. The former Prime Minister Bob Hawke stood there silently waiting for the celebration to subside before offering his congratulations. And Justin Langer, their current Test No 3, and a confidant of the captain, waited for his moment as well. Happiness and dignity seemed to be going together.

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So discipline prevailed over passion in the end. Method triumphed over flair and the side that was stronger in the mind won. And so many of us got it wrong. We thought Pakistan’s unbridled passion, their great urge to conquer would carry them through; that it would overcome the inconsistency that is such an integral and infuriating part of their cricket.

But Australia were too strong in the head and in the grammar of one-day cricket. They started and ended the Pakistan innings with catches that made you gasp. But on another day Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting would still have taken them for that is the way they play their cricket. The fielders took two wickets and that is the reality of modern cricket.That is something the sub-continent still doesn’t realise. In doing so, it places an unfair burden on talent alone.

Seven wins in a row in the most competitive tournament in the world is an astounding performance. And it was powered by experience. When the time came to be counted, the big guns stood up and fired. When the cannons boom, it is easy for the pistols to go off and so with the two Waughs, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne leading the way, everybody else followed.

Each of those produced two match-winning performances. McGrath against the West Indies and India, Mark Waugh against India and Zimbabwe, Steve Waugh in the two matches against South Africa and Warne in the semi-final and the final. Around them, Adam Gilchrist produced a fine cameo in the final, Ponting had small but significant contributions, Damien Fleming and Paul Reiffel had their moments as did Bevan.

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And their fielding, especially on the ground, was sensational. A few catches went down in the earlier games but the fieldinginvariably played the role of a sixth bowler and that is the reality of modern cricket. Australia and South Africa embraced it, Pakistan had the energy to overcome it occasionally and they were the three best teams of the tournament.

India will never look at it that way for the men who run Indian cricket do not understand the modern game. Behind the emotion and the happiness that I saw at Lord’s lies a story we do not want to know.