Part of Australia's World Cup-winning team pose under a shower of green and gold confetti during a reception for the team in central Sydney, yesterday. Australian captain Ricky Ponting (holding trophy, left) has warned the side will only get better despite the retirement of some of its stars in recent months. - Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters):

AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN Ricky Ponting believes his team will continue to dominate world cricket for years to come unless their opponents improve.

Rival countries had been hoping Australia would lose their grip on world cricket with the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn.

But those hopes look to have been dashed after an Australian team featuring the next generation of players hardly broke sweat on the way to winning the World Cup for the third time in a row.

"The skills that were on display at that World Cup have probably never been seen before in international cricket and that should be something that we should be very proud of," Ponting told reporters after the team arrived home, yesterday.

Ponting said the recent exodus of senior players would not necessarily allow other countries to close the gap.

"I think if anything we have increased that margin between the teams through this tournament," Ponting said.

Of the 15 Australians who played in the World Cup, only McGrath is quitting. The two openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden both want to continue despite being in their late 30s.

There is also no shortage of quality younger players coming through with Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds already team regulars.

Australia's long search for an all-rounder looks to have borne fruit in the form of Shane Watson, while the fast bowling stocks look as healthy as ever since the emergence of Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait, Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson.

Australia's biggest problem is finding a long-term replacement for spinner Warne, but Ponting said the future was still as bright as ever.

"I think we have just gone ahead and even widen that gap so it is up to the opposition countries to address that fact and look at what we are doing," he said.

"And look at how they are playing their cricket and make sure next time they played against us, they can compete better against us."