The other team that gets due respect is Ireland. They did very well at the last One Day World Cup. I just saw where they are through to the final 8. Australia was beaten by Sri Lanka and is now out of the competition. I dont mind losing to them as they are my favourite team other than Australia. They are as good or better than the best teams in the world like India, England, South Africa and Australia. They have one of the best win loss records for playing India in India which is probably the hardest thing in world cricket to do. Their players have always been humble and polite yet awesome cricketers. Australias Shane Warne is probably recognised as the greatest bowler of all time yet Sri Lanka's Muralitharan has taken more wickets. Sanath Jayasuriya would be in my top 5 batsmen of all time. Fantastic to watch bat.
Here is a wiki snippet:
Sri Lanka won the 1996 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia in the finals, and becoming World Champions. Since then, the team has continued to be a major force in international cricket. Sri Lankan team currently holds several word records including world records for highest team totals in all three forms of the game, Test, ODI and, Twenty20. The Sri Lanka team did well to reach the finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup but lost to Australia in a rain-affected match. The batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva (retired), backed up by the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, among many other talented cricketers, has underpinned the successes of Sri Lankan cricket.
Considering that back in March this year the team was attacked by gunmen in Lahore, Pakistan. At least six security personnel were killed and eight members of Sri Lanka's cricket team hurt including two with gunshot wounds in an attack on the team's bus as they were going to play a game. These guys have not played a game since that day until they beat Australia yesterday.
