The ICC 50-over World Cup is one of the prestigious tournaments in cricket. While it is an exemplary achievement to bag the winners’ medal, it’s an altogether feeling to do it as a captain. Australia is the most successful team in this regard. They have won the trophy five times, including a hattrick from 1999 to 2007. Although each team member has been recognized, it is the captains who have gone with the chunk of praise. However, there have been the vice-captains behind them, who have also done a great deal of work. In this article, we take a look at four players who were vice-captain of ODI World Cup-winning teams of Australia.
1) Geoff Marsh – 1987 World Cup
Captain – Allan Border
Coach of the Australian World Cup-winning squad in 1999, Geoff Marsh was the vice-captain of the ODI World Cup squad that brought the first major trophy to the country. He made 428 runs in eight games in that event, thereby helping Australia go all the way in the competition that took place jointly in India and Pakistan.
Although he did not fire in the final at the Eden Gardens, Marsh’s overall performance was satisfactory for the management. Between 1987 and 1991, Marsh also captained four ODI games for Australia, out of which the country won three matches.
2) Shane Warne – 1999 World Cup
Captain – Steve Waugh
With 10 wins in 11 ODI games as a captain, Warne enjoys a win percentage of more than 90%. The legendary leg-spinner was Australia’s vice-captain when the country won the World Cup in 1999, which was held in England.
In the final of that event, Warne picked four wickets against Pakistan and was the Player of the Match. Along with Geoff Allott, Warne also picked 20 wickets in the 1999 World Cup and hence, were the two highest wicket-takers of the event.
3) Adam Gilchrist – 2003 and 2007 World Cup
Captain – Ricky Ponting
One of the greatest wicket-keepers in world cricket, Adam Gilchrist was the vice-captain of the ODI World Cup on two occasions. Both times, it was Ricky Ponting, under whom Gilly was the deputy. Since both players belonged to the same era and Ricky was a better captain, Gilly’s overall captaincy stats in ODI’s included only 17 games, out of which Australia won 12 matches. However, it needs to be noted that it was actually Gilchrist who first became the captain of Australia before Ponting.
In the 2007 World Cup final, the southpaw struck 149 runs off 104 balls and was the deciding factor of the game. In 2003 final, too, he had set the tone to Australia’s innings with 57 runs from 48 deliveries. When Gilly first won a World Cup in 1999, as well, he scored a good knock of 54 runs from 36 deliveries in the final.
4) George Bailey – 2015 World Cup
Captain – Michael Clarke
In this generation, you hardly get cricketers who make international debut as a captain. However, George Bailey did just that when he was appointed as the captain of Australia’s T20I squad in just his debut game in 2012. That shows the level of confidence the management had in his captaincy abilities.
The Australian team was slightly out of form but were still regarded as the favourites of the 2015 World Cup that was happening Down Under. While Michael Clarke was the captain of that team, Bailey was his deputy. In fact, for the first few games in which Clarke was out injured, Bailey captained his country in the event. Bailey also led Australia in two World T20 campaigns.
