On the evidence of this tournament and final, Australia still lead the world by the head start they stole in the first decade of this century when they began to invest in the women’s game, established and consolidated the Women’s Big Bash League and made pay parity a cornerstone.

On the eve of the final, they received another shot in the arm with news of a record surge in registrations among 5-12-year olds. This is especially notable in the context of a plateauing and even thinning in other sports post-COVID-19.

But the gap between Australia and the rest of the world could close sooner than you might think. England, India and New Zealand will not rest, and the West Indies did beat Australia in a Twenty20 final in 2016.

South Africa have come a long way quickly. Their lead-in results were unimpressive and then on the eve of the tournament they sacked veteran captain Dane van Niekerk because of a lack of fitness. It prompted uproar at the time, but might now be seen as setting high and non-negotiable standards.

The South African team are strikingly multi-hued, and from accounts this has happened more organically than for the men’s team, whose striving to be more representative of their country has been torturous. The women’s coach, Hilton Moreeng, is a black man who was taught to play cricket by a woman: imagine that!

Their future is here: Wolvaardt, their star in the final and the tournament’s highest run-maker, is just 23.

World Cup done, the women haul off to the inaugural Women’s Premier League, providing their game with more exposure and the stars money on a scale unimaginable even three years ago.

It’s exciting – and ominous. Since the inauguration of the men’s Indian Premier League in 2008, India has spent more time than any other country on top of the world rankings. Cricket’s power base has shifted. For all South Africa’s heroics in this tournament, India’s women’s team remains Australia’s likeliest usurper.

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Be that as it may. For now, Australia have two missions. One is to continue to freshen up this legendary team.

It can be a tricky proposition. NB the men’s team and Dave Warner. All their foundation stars are now in their 30s save Mooney, who is 29. Captain Meg Lanning already has taken time away from the game. At least Australia’s forward planners know they have numbers and can reasonably expect quality. But it is one thing to be inspired by legends, another to tread in their footsteps.

Their other and more immediate role is to lead the nation in celebration of their latest triumph. You can and will debate their place in the Australian pantheon. But it’s almost impossible to deny that when everything that matters is taken into account – achievement, grace, inspiration to a generation and social impact – they’ve put more stakes in the ground than any other.

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