Burke puts away a wide delivery

Coach Wayne Phillips built his side around the strength of his spin bowlers who were simply far too good for inexperienced opponents.

Leg-spinner White was expected to be the main threat but took only two wickets - although he was the tournament's top run scorer - and by the end of the competition it was left-armer Xavier Doherty that had emerged as the new spin bowling star.

Doherty produces bounce and turn, allied to an unfailing accuracy. The 19-year-old Tasmanian did not send down a single wide or no-ball during the competition and finished with 16 wickets.

Phillips took the innovative approach of selecting four spinners with left-arm leg spinner Beau Casson, White, Jarrad Burke and Doherty making up the quartet.

While Phillips modestly admitted the decision was made for him by the talent of his young spin bowlers, South Africa coach Hylton Ackerman was quick to praise the move after Saturday's final.

"I really enjoyed watching Doherty bowl and he was the one that impressed me above all," he said.

"A lot of players outside the sub-continent at this level have little experience against spin bowlers and they simply did not have the know how to play against four very good slow bowlers."

The introduction of four spinners in one-day cricket was simply brilliant

Hylton Ackermann

Doherty showed tremendous potential

The Australians were also bidding to earn contracts with their academy, which in many ways was a bigger incentive than a winners medal.

"Quite a few of the guys have already been to the academy but they knew they were playing for their futures when they came out here and there is no reason why all 14 members of the squad cannot go on to better things," said Phillips.

"They will be given all the advice and coaching possible but they have to make it themselves and this tournament has been a wonderful experience for them."

The 2002 ICC Under-19s World Cup was unfortunately a predictable tournament thanks to Australia's talent, but for many of the players who will never experience the highs of Test cricket and international stardom, it will be the greatest memory of their careers.

It pitted the likes of Australia against teams such as Kenya, who only had a handful of bats between them, and Papua New Guinea who thrilled to be paid �1.50 per day expenses.

Nepal's excitable team caused the biggest shock of the tournament by beating Pakistan and Bangladesh, but their most memorable moment turned out to be meeting Sir Edmund Hillary in Auckland rather than anything they achieved on the cricket field.

Pakistan and India forgot their differences over Kashmir as the two teams hugged after their Super League match proving that politics should never get in the way of sport.

Australia were rightly crowned champions but the competition is not about who carries off the silverware on the final day, but what has been gained by the 16 teams who took part.

You never know, the odd superstar may have been born. Watch this space.