Perth: Thousands of fans paid homage to Australia's triumphant World Cup cricketers as they arrived home from South Africa on Tuesday after winning the One-day crown for the third time.Under a sunny autumn sky, the 15 players were feted in Forrest Place, in the heart of the Western Australian capital, by a colorful crowd estimated by police at about 5,000.Thunderous cheering echoed across the city as Australian captain Ricky Ponting stepped forward on to a stage to raise the trophy aloft. Tired, but elated, the players waved back to the crowd in the only public appearance to be made by the team in Australia before it goes into training for a four-Test tour of the West Indies.Western Australian Premier Geoff Gallop told the team members they were the pride of Australia after glittering green and gold streamers rained down on the squad.There were joyous reunions with wives and families for the three Western Australian members of the side -- vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn and Brad Hogg. All three were in the eleven which overwhelmed India by 125 runs in the Sunday final in Johannesburg.The Australians were unbeaten in 11 matches in South Africa and Zimbabwe during the tournament.Earlier, when the side arrived at Perth international airport, Ponting made an indirect reference to Australia's involvement in the war on Iraq. "We were aware of what was happening in the world around us -- there is no doubt about that," he said."The thing that we tried to do the other day in the final was to win the game and bring a smile to a lot of Australian faces who are obviously doing it a lot tougher than we and a lot of others are at the moment."We didn't actually sit down and talk about it as a group, but I am sure that, at the end of the day, we have made a lot of people happy and changed the way they have been thinking about things over the past couple of weeks."Ponting said he believed Australia could win the World Cup for a record-breaking third time in a row in 2007.Copyright AFP 2001

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We are the envy of all the world: Hayden
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