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David Boon's Thoughts

Tuesday, March 25 2003

Recently I emailed David Boon, who is on the Australian selection panel, and asked for some words about his thoughts in relation to the Australian World Cup Campaign.

David and I have corresponded before in the form of an interview previously and here's what he had to say:

Character, team spirit, support, commitment are just some of the words that come to mind when I look back on this World Cup campaign.

The team took all those things, coupled them with ability and produced one of the closest things to perfection you would want to see.

At times it was hard, especially those few games in Port Elizabeth on a wicket, which suited the opposition in the games more than the Australians. The World Cup is one of the hardest campaigns a cricketer will venture on. As we saw in South Africa we could have been knocked out with no second chance even though we had been undefeated.

As a selector you are almost as involved as the players in your emotions and reactions. These guy's are a credit to the sport, themselves and their country. You ride every undulation they go on and you feel the successes and the failures for both the individuals and the team.

Ricky Ponting’s leadership was exemplary. He brought out the best in all; he led from the front and produced one of the best innings you would ever want to see in a World Cup final. Under his leadership the team overcame some adversity and unforseen complications, and continued on to achieve something no one has done before-back to back World Cups and a record three Cups for Australia.

We should not forget the contributions of all players and staff involved but for me the advancement of Andrew Symonds and the outstanding contribution of Andy Bichel were standouts.

I felt extremely proud to still be a part of Australian Cricket and privileged to be one of those chosen to select the World Champion Team.

Posted by Corey