Australia's Cricket World Cup frivolity adds chapter to iconic trophy celebrations

The Australian cricket team have caused some controversy in their Cricket World Cup celebrations after defeating India in the tournament final, and it's not the first time drama has followed trophy winners.

It adds another chapter to Australia's history of iconic - albeit sometimes too-rowdy - celebrations with championship trophies.

All-rounder Mitch Marsh became the target of millions of Indian cricket fans when he had the audacity to pose for a photo with the World Cup trophy, using the silverware like a footstool.

The image posted by Australian skipper Pat Cummins on Instagram led to social media exploding with outrage from Indian media, influencers and fans all slamming Marsh's actions.

One cricket analyst went as far as to call Marsh "disrespectful", "shocking", and "disgusting".

The celebrations at the hotel are likely to cement World Cup hero Travis Head with legendary status among his teammates and Australian cricket fans if the post-final images that flowed on social media are anything to go by.

With the location of the World Cup final in Ahmedabad - a state where alcohol is prohibited unless foreigners have a permit to do so - the cricket team waited until they were back at the hotel to kick off what looked like a buoyant after-party.

Head snapped a pic of himself sipping from a tequila mug with teammate Marcus Stoinis, and it appears the team continued their celebrations on the golf course, with recent cart accident victim Glenn Maxwell.

Showing no signs of trauma from his concussion ordeal, Maxwell comfortably took part in a round shoeless, cheered on by Cummins and other teammates.

Meanwhile, leg-spinner Adam Zampa took great pleasure in reminding Australia's critics that he'd been noting their comments, where many didn't rate the green and gold's World Cup chances after losing their opening matches.

Zampa posted an image of a torn page entitled "receipts" along with shots of the team relishing their six-wicket win over India in the final.

While the seemingly harmless frivolity ruffled some feathers, it's not the first time celebrations with trophies have been at the centre of some controversy in Australian sport.

In Canberra, Raiders great Laurie Daley famously dropped the 1989 premiership trophy off the back of a ute during a victory parade through Queanbeyan, blaming a sudden hit of the accelerator for the slip-up.

At Civic a huge crowd met the Raiders at the end of the parade, with Mal Meninga hoisting the trophy with a towel wrapped around it, comically keeping it together.

"It was either me or the trophy going overboard, so I did the honourable thing and saved myself," Daley later joked.

"We did smash the base. We did a job on it."

The night before Daley's mishap with the trophy featuring Norm Provan and Arthur Summons, the Raiders also accidently shattered the glass cabinet holding the JJ Giltinan Shield. It used to be awarded to the premiers and in the NRL today it's given to the year's minor premiers.

Former Raiders chairman John McIntyre kept that last incident secret for 19 years before revealing all in 2008.

"That was kept very quiet,'' McIntyre told The Canberra Times years later.

''We took that to a friend and he repaired that before any media woke up to it, so she was well and truly intact the next day.''

The modern NRL trophy was damaged similarly to the Daley incident in 2021 by the Penrith Panthers too, along with some other questionable celebrations that led league bosses to investigate.

The Wallabies were also guilty of some trophy controversy following their 1999 World Cup win. The Webb Ellis Cup affectionately nicknamed "Bill" had an update to its steel plate.

Days before it was scheduled to be shown off at a victory parade, Rugby Australia executives discovered that "Webb Ellis" on the trophy had been scratched out with "Bill" inscribed, which required a prompt repair.

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