THE GAP between Australia and the rest was as wide as the Tasman Sea, as commanding as a Usain Bolt triumph, if not quite as conclusive as 2007 in the Caribbean when they set standards of power and perfection beyond even the West Indies in their supremacy of the World Cup’s formative years.
Then, they won all their 11 matches, plundered over 300 whenever they batted first on their way to the rain-shortened final, never yielded more than six wickets and won by more than 200 runs three times.
By the 2011 tournament, five of their finest players – Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Andrew Symonds and Glenn McGrath – had retired. Their quest for a fourth successive title ended before the semi-finals.