Paceman Shaun Tait claims Australia’s lost aura is back for the tilt at a fourth consecutive cricket World Cup title. The only member of the bowling attack to play a significant role in the resounding 2007 Cup win, Tait said the ODI series victory over England has given rivals reason to be worried about Australia again after a series of poor results in 2010.
“We had the wood over England in the one day series, we’re the No.1 ranked team in the world in one day cricket, so to be fair, it’s hard to find weaknesses,” Tait told the World Cup edition of the Wisden Cricketer magazine.
“It’s just been an allround effort lately, there’ve been a couple of nice games where the bowlers have kept England to a low score and the batters have got the job done.
“Our fielding’s been really good and for a long time the Australian team has been the best fielding side in the world.
“And we talk about the aura the Australian team has always had, I think we’ve got that back now, I think we’ll be going into (the World Cup) with a solid aura about us, and I think teams will be wary of the Australian team again, for sure.”
While saying the Australians feared no-one in the tournament – starting this week and co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and bangalore – Tait pointed to India, Sri Lanka and South Africa as their three most likely rivals.
“I wouldn’t say we fear anyone, but I think there are some good teams out there,” he said.
“Because of the conditions on the subcontinent the Sri Lankans and the Indians are going to be dangerous for sure, and I think overall as a one-day team South Africa are pretty dangerous.”
In a career where he has been criticised for removing himself from first-class and Test match calculations, Tait said the last World Cup campaign remained the pinnacle of his achievement.
“If I go back and look at my cricket career, the best achievement, for sure, is winning the World Cup,” he said.
“That stands out as No.1 for me in my career, and if I do nothing else in my cricket I can say ‘well I was part of winning World Cup side and undefeated team as well’. That stands up above all else.
“So it’s a fantastic tournament to be involved in, with all the best players in the world, every single team, all in the same tournament, it’s a good vibe.”
Tait was due to make his first appearance on the subcontinent in Tuesday’s final World Cup warm up match against South Africa in Bangalore.
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