All hail Punter and his men
By Brendan McArdle - Fox Sports
If it was not obvious during the World Cup, the Australians have reinforced the point with their achievements on this tour of India: this is the greatest squad of one-day cricketers we have ever seen.
Those cricket romantics who marvelled at the awesome skills of the West Indies in the 1970s and early '80s have to admit that these Australians are playing a different game.
Their scoring rates are unprecedented, their bowling is adaptable and their fielding abilities are unmatched.
Statistics do not always tell a true story in these times of questionable opposition, but the mere fact that Ricky Ponting has the best winning ratio of any one-day captain makes for a good starting point in assessing his team's standing.
His reign has included three games against Bangladesh in July. Otherwise, the record has been built in South Africa, the West Indies and India, or at home against reasonably challenging opposition.
It was in March, during the World Cup, that Australia announced itself as a truly great one-day side. Never has a World Cup been won so convincingly, or a series seen such a parade of a country's depth of talent.
In Australia's group match against India in that tournament - when Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Andy Bichel were together - we saw the best display of one-day pace bowling in recent memory. One cannot recall an occasion when Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall were any more impressive.
Meanwhile, factors such as the reverse-swing of Lee and McGrath mean that today's batsmen are being presented with problems their counterparts never faced 20 years ago.
The batting benchmarks have also been raised under Ponting and coach John Buchanan. Scores of 300 are commonplace as the Australian batsmen have decimated a succession of opposition bowlers.
Australia's batting is a lethal combination, led by possibly the most dangerous batsman ever, Adam Gilchrist, who has no fear of failure, making him a truly intimidating opponent.
Matthew Hayden is a world-class player and can play the "Test" game in a one-dayer if the conditions and opposition bowling demand it. The openers are every bit as effective as West Indians Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes in their time.
Ponting is Viv Richards-like, the quality all-round batsman of the team, while Damien Martyn and Michael Bevan play their roles to perfection.
The emergence of the powerful Andrew Symonds allows the team to play just four specialist bowlers. And Michael Clarke has given Darren Lehmann plenty to think about.
Probably the most meritorious aspect of the Indian series was the impact of Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken. They represent Australia's depth and have thrown down the challenge for the "big three" for the coming Test series.
Of course, these recent triumphs have been achieved without the seemingly irreplaceable Shane Warne, with Brad Hogg seeming to have faltered of late.
Fine one-day cricketers are more easily developed than good Test players, and at present we might have 20 men who would do justice to the gold uniform.
But these Australians deserve to be celebrated and acknowledged for what they have done and how they have done it.
