Australia is seen from both outside and within as a "sporting" nation. We love our reputation and despite the menacing march of obesity and diabetes Australians cling to the fading myth.
Recognition on the world stage is more about Olympic medals and the Tour de France than inventing penicillin or bionic ears.
A significant slice of our own perception revolves around the climate that allows a year-long outdoor life that enables us to exercise and also promotes a willingness to spectate.
The serious foundation of our lifestyle generalisation does exist.
Recently the Socceroos won the Asian Cup on home turf.
This achievement was in a major tournament of the planet's most popular sport conducted in stadiums from Newcastle to Canberra and in the capital cities. If you didn't know where Uzbekistan or Saudia Arabia were before the tournament then the chances are you now know a little something of their cultures and country.
All the matches were played before excellent crowds in a nation of only 23 million. The "spectator" gene in the Aussie couldn't help but take a peek. Fans who would not normally attend A-League matches turned up to watch an international competition.
The on-field result was a fillip for Australian football, the off-field side effects of broader knowledge of the game and, for the overseas visitors and television viewers, a deeper knowledge of Australia that may translate to trade and tourism exchanges.
Sport is a useful gateway for diplomacy, friendship and business. The Cricket World Cup is providing a similar halo effect.
The playing of the game, the drama and intensity of the competition and the exposure of lesser-known cricketing nations has so far exceeded all expectations.
The celebration by Shapoor Zadran after he struck the winning boundary for Afghanistan's first World Cup victory would have done Lionel Messi proud in a World Cup final. The overflow of emotion was of global proportion. No doubt the streets of Kabul and Kandahar were full of cartwheeling fans, Zadran style.
Australia's largest grounds have been filled or almost so when two neutral nations have clashed and the atmosphere generated by different cultures has been noisy, joyful and knowledgeable. Australian supporters who attended the India-Pakistan match in Adelaide commented that the fans were terrific, but how can you put up with the noise level being ear-bruising all the time? The aspiring minor countries have made their contribution by being competitive and wholehearted; they probably feel that just by qualifying for the main show they have had significant success. Certainly the gulf between the major nations and the associates has narrowed — Ireland, Scotland and Afghanistan will all be looking for strong finishes to their campaigns to justify their places and force the ICC to reconsider the myopic view of the curtailed 2019 World Cup.
The players' actions and attitudes on the field has been reflected from the grandstands.
A large crowd could have been expected for the subcontinental clash at Adelaide Oval; both teams are well supported and have diaspora in large numbers. The volume of fans who flew in from India on the morning of the game and then flew back out due to lack of accommodation was in the thousands.
Airports did massive overtime, restaurants stayed open, transport public and private was pushed to the limits. In Adelaide there were no reports of public disorder. Bonhomie between nations whose politicians at least congenitally distrust each other was par excellence. The cricket was entertaining as well.
Manuka Oval was filled, the SCG almost, Melbourne was packed for India playing South Africa and all this after a summer that began with a full domestic program of limited over cricket run and done in October, Australia playing an away series against Pakistan leading into some home internationals and T20s against South Africa.
The Big Bash and Test series with India were intertwined, cricket in December ran almost dawn to midnight daily and closely following was the tri-series with England and some practice World Cup games ... whew.
Then the Cup started, and the Australian public and our very welcome visitors have lost none of their enthusiasm to watch and attend even more sport. The biggest whinge seems to revolve around lack of free-to-air television coverage for the non-Australian matches.
The commercial broadcasters, very practically it seemed, left the outside teams to appear on pay TV but the appetite for more and more cricket has been extraordinary.
The performance of the exotic lesser lights has been one of the reasons. There have been no blowout matches; Afghans, Scots and Irish can play the game and often without the affectations of the mainstream superstars.
The game is played seriously by these men but it's not life and death that requires a hatred or dislike or some beat-up phrases of aggression and lack of respect. There has been a "feel-good" air to the World Cup.
The one-day game's obituary has been written numerous times with calls for meaningless series to be canned and the plethora of T20 franchises to expand even further.
Maybe the various formats actually help each other because of their differences. The game is paramount not the peripheral froth.
In New Zealand the grounds aresmaller but the crowds enthusiastic at every match. Their cricket team is holding back the 10-month tide of rugby that generally engulfs the nation and that is no easy feat.
To paraphrase Roy Slaven and HG Nelson: "When too much cricket is hardly enough."
