Captain Michael Clarke carried the World Cup trophy and, as the players mounted the stage in front of thousands of fans at open-air Federation Square, they smiled wanly and waved to the crowd.
Clarke was asked what the over-riding emotion was on the day after Australia had achieved its fifth World Cup and he grinned and said: "We're all a bit hung over to be honest."
It had been a late night. Australian newspapers and websites ran photographs Monday of coach Darren Lehmann and players, still in team uniform, holding the trophy on a hotel balcony as the sun rose over Melbourne.