Spirit of 1999 proves Aussies bond in crisis; ignore the crap and get on with it, writes Robert Craddock

The 20th anniversary of Australia’s 50-overs ICC World Cup cricket win in England highlights the need for the current band of Aussies to ignore the crap and just get on with the job, writes ROBBERT CRADDOCK.

Day 3 of the 4th Ashes test. Australia vs England at the MCG. Steve Smith and david Warner between overs. Pic: Michael Klein

The 20th anniversary of Australia’s 50-overs ICC World Cup cricket win in England has come at the perfect time because it spotlights a simple message to the team which will try to trace their footsteps to glory.

Ignore the crap … just play.

It is one year tomorrow since Sandpapergate, and with David Warner and Steve Smith’s one-year bans ending next week the focus will be on how well they integrate back into the team if, as expected, they are chosen in the 15-man World Cup squad.

With so much effort being made to smooth the path back, it would surprise if there are any significant early problems.

The major team fallouts over the years have been ones that built up over time with no attempt made to defuse them before they reached detonation point.

But no matter what lies ahead, the moral of Australia’s 1999 triumph was you don’t have to be a gloriously tight band of brothers to do the job at a World Cup so long as every man does his job.

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There are players in that 1999 squad who still can’t believe Australia won the title given the amount of turmoil in the squad.

Shane Warne and captain Steve Waugh arrived in Britain with their relationship in a difficult state after Waugh dropped Warne from the Test side in the West Indies.

By the back end of the tournament both men would look deep inside themselves to conjure exceptional performances which would lead Australia to Cup glory.

But it was tough going early.

Teammates, not mates: Shane Warne and Steve Waugh after winning the 1999 World Cup.

Waugh was so concerned that the team was losing its way off the field he instigated a partial alcohol ban, which ripped the side in two and caused a mini-revolt.

If it wasn’t for wise old head Tom Moody convincing him to drop the ban Australia may have never won the Cup.

Australia stumbled out of the gates early in the tournament and lost to New Zealand and Pakistan.

Steve Smith and David Warner complete their one-year bans next week.

Before their first game Waugh had the idea of stitching their player number in the history of Australian ODI players into their cap — a Cardiff grandmother started the job but a more professional outfit had to finish it.

Australia were set a challenge of having to go unbeaten through the last seven matches to take the title and they duly did — but it was a desperately tight thing.

It was almost as if they needed to be set Mission Improbable to galvanise their focus and surge to victory.

The Aussies celebrate their famous victory at Lord’s.

The final against Pakistan was a romp but the previous two games — against South Africa — were among the most famous ever seen in the Cup.

In the famous joyous photo after Australia secured their place in the final with a sensational tie with South Africa at Edgbaston with the run-out of Allan Donald you would swear you were looking at a group of men who would be mates for life.

The current Australian team may not have the class of the boys from 1999 but they have a team capable of winning the Cup if everyone pulls their weight.

The World Cup is the one event where Australia still have an aura capable of being a weapon of intimidation.

There is no doubt Australia have had a modest few years since their World Cup win in 2015 but the fact that they have won the title five times radiates a vibe of invincibility the team does not deserve but it must try to exploit.

LISTEN! Ball-tampering scandal anniversary special with Geoff Lemon, author of ‘Steve Smith’s Men’, a meticulously detailed and award-listed account of the Newlands scandal and what it means for Australian cricket.

Listen below or search for ‘Cricket Unfiltered’ wherever you get your podcasts from.

THE GOOD

The career of Luke Feldman, the colourful and most underrated Queensland fast bowler playing his last match for the Bulls after a decade-long career in which he kept his job as a policeman and maintained a balanced perspective on life.

THE BAD

That the incomparable Winx is entering the home straight in her glittering career as she bids for 32 straight at Rosehill today. Soon she will be gone for good. Oh how we will miss her.

THE UGLY

The mishmash competition that is Super Rugby. Dropping a Japan based team when this year’s World Cup is in Japan is cringe-worthy enough but the whole concept just hasn’t gelled.

Originally published as Spirit of 1999 proves Aussies bond in crisis; ignore the crap and get on with it, writes Robert Craddock