Symonds sheds a tear over World Cup win

JOHANNESBURG - Andrew Symonds had a tear running down his cheek.

Darren Lehmann had the ball in his pocket.

Glenn McGrath had the biggest scalp in the game.

Andy Bichel was pinching himself.

Brett Lee was holding a bottle of water, but that would be a beer soon enough.

Humbling India by 125 runs in the World Cup final provoked emotions among the players ranging from joy, relief, pride and immense satisfaction to a hope that some joy had been given to Australians affected by the war.

Symonds paused for a full ten seconds before finding the words to express what a World Cup victory meant to him.

Dead and buried as an international cricketer last year, he resurrected his career in emphatic fashion in South Africa.

He topped the batting averages with 163, fielding faultlessly and taking 2-7 with his medium-pacers in the final.

"It means just about everything," he said.

"A tear rolling down your cheek mean anything to you? I was in tears out there when we won today."

Symonds said it was "no doubt" the biggest moment of his 26-year-old life when Lehmann took the winning catch from the bowling of Glenn McGrath and the players mobbed each other.

"I'm just so happy - you're out in the paddock and that last catch was taken and we were all grabbing each other," he said.

"You look around that huddle and see people's faces.

"I have never been to war but it was like we were in the trenches together today and we won like the Anzacs had won, it was really special ... squeezing the 15 blokes as hard as I could when that last catch was taken."

McGrath was overshadowed to a degree by Brett Lee during the tournament but he did the business again today, taking the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar with the fifth ball of his first over.

"He's definitely a big key wicket in their line-up and to knock him over in the first over I was pretty happy with, yeah," said McGrath.

"They've still got some very good batsmen but chasing 360, and they'd just lost one of the best batsmen in the world, it just made their task a lot harder."

Bichel was a revelation at the Cup, moving from the team's fringes to living out a fantasy that seemed impossible until first-string fast bowler Jason Gillespie was forced to fly home with strained heel ligaments.

"No doubt I enjoyed the World Cup," said Bichel, who averaged 12.31 with the ball and 117 with the bat.

"It's something I really wanted to play in and I enjoyed every moment if it, from all the games to things outside of that.

"It's all a bit of a blur at the moment, obviously, to win a World Cup, but with everything happening back home with the war and stuff happening, hopefully this sort of gees everyone on a bit.

"It's nice to be out there enjoying yourself playing cricket, it's something that we love to do, but with things going on and guys going away to war, I really feel for them.

"Hopefully it's a bit a gee-up for everyone and we can put a smile on everyone's face."

Lee's two wickets in the final gave him 22 for the tournament and second place on the bowling list, just one shy of Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas.

In terms of raw speed, blinding spells and entertainment value, Lee was miles ahead.

"It's definitely up there as the most brilliant thing that's ever happened to me as a cricketer and an athlete," said Lee.

"The way that the guys all hugged each other ... it just meant so much to us, we've just worked so hard for it.

"Words can't explain how we felt at that exact time, so it was a pretty terrific moment."

Lehmann hit the winning runs four years ago.

Today he took the winning catch.

The ball was nestled in his left pocket.

"I'll keep that," he said.