“The celebrations were long and hard which is what they should be after you win a World Cup,” he added. “There were some pretty amazing scenes coming back to Australia from guys (with) not a lot of clothing on at different hours of the morning, but we celebrated as we should,” he said.

Ponting said Australia’s second straight undefeated run at a World Cup was an amazing achievement and he continued to praise Adam Gilchrist for his man of the match performance in the final.

“For us to again go through undefeated and once again have a lot of our players peaking at the right time in the World Cup is an amazing achievement by everybody,” he said. “Gilly’s innings in the final as I have been flat out telling him, it was unbelievable, that was the one difference between the two teams in the final,” he said.

“It has been an amazing couple of months of our lives and even more amazing last few days.” The team was later feted at a breakfast by Prime Minister John Howard and later by thousands of fans at a civic reception in central Sydney. Howard praised McGrath as one of the all-time greats. “The wonderful Glenn McGrath... really has been an ornament to Australian cricket for many years,” he said.

“He is the greatest fast bowler of his generation and many would say he ranks with the very greatest that the game has seen.” Ponting raised the cup to huge cheers at an outdoor ceremony in Martin Place, but the biggest cheers were reserved for Glenn McGrath.