Aussies bask in beery glory

Rohit Mahajan

Melbourne, March 30

At noon today, Australian cricketers, still soaked in champagne and the euphoria of the night before, descended on the Federation Square, the nerve centre of the city, which lies a kilometre away from the Melbourne Cricket Ground. They were presented to a crowd of a few thousand people who had gathered there to greet and lionise them. There were barely 4,000 people there — and that’s a generous estimate. This might appear to be a small number, but today was Monday morning and people had more important things to do — like heading to the beach at St Kilda region in the south of the city.

The generosity and the kindness of the world champions was refreshing. It was a hot day, and people sought shade after spending some time in the sun. The players had over-loaded on beer. Some of them appeared to be moving like zombies, for beer and champagne had flowed in the night. “We’re a bit hung-over,” said Michael Clarke, the captain who led the team in a perfect performance last night.

The hangover didn’t make the players irritable or impatient, however. Last night’s win, the triumph before 93,000 fans at the MCG, had caused beer to flow like water in the Australian camp. Coach Darren Lehmann was soaked in beer, and his response was: “This is the reason I love the boys!”

Beer boys

Soon after the win, Shane Warne asked Brad Haddin on live TV: “Are you feeling thirsty?”

Haddin confirmed that beer was on his mind in a rather big way. “We’re going to have a beer with everyone in the crowd, should be a big night!” Haddin said.

Late in the night, the players got down to the turf of the MCG, along with the World Cup trophy, and had a beer or two — or maybe 50 beers — there. There was laughter and jokes and spraying of beer on each other and the turf.

A team official at the Federation Square said that the party continued all night, and that the players had time for only a few snatches of sleep, followed by a quick shave and shower to get ready for the Federation Square felicitation.

In that context, the patience and generosity of the players was positively saintly. 

Kind Aussie

Several touching scenes were witnessed. A little boy called Christian, blind and carrying a stick, was guided towards the players. Michael Clarke spotted the boy and came to him for a chat, and asked him if he wanted a photograph. What might a photograph mean to a little boy who cannot see? The lady with the boy told him that it was the voice of Michael Clarke — that Michael Clarke wanted to click a picture with him. Clarke talked with the boy, and his face lit up like a thousand suns. 

The other players came over and posed with the child. His day was made. Seeds of memories for a lifetime were sown.

George Bailey, one-time captain but now a world champion player having played only one game in the tournament, was cheerful and in high spirits. He crossed the barricades protecting the players and joined the crowd. He posed with children, men, women and their dogs. He clicked selfies and signed autographs. He chatted with those who wanted a chat, he joked with those who wanted a laugh, and he listened intently to advice about how to get back into the team.

Shane Watson remained there for well over an hour, signing autographs, posing for photographs. He did not want to leave a single fan disappointed.

These could well have been angels in disguise.

Nasty Aussies

On the field, the Australians are extremely aggressive. 

Last night, they managed to sour their amazing victory a little by aggressive and ugly send-offs given to some of the New Zealand players. 

Brad Haddin clapped his big gloves right in the face of Martin Guptill after the New Zealander was dismissed; later, Grant Elliott and Daniel Vettori were involved in hot verbals after their dismissals. Haddin today said that the nastiness was not unintentional. He said that the courtesy and decency of behaviour of New Zealand’s players had made him uncomfortable. He said his response was to attack them verbally.

“I said in the team meeting, ‘I can’t stand for this anymore, we’re going at them as hard as we can’,” Haddin said. “It was that uncomfortable. All they were was that nice to us for seven days. I said, ‘I’m not playing cricket like this. If we get another crack at these guys in the final I’m letting everything (out)’.”

Haddin and his mates seem to believe that decency on the field is un-Australian, though they’re well capable of it off the field.