But as the Australians celebrate their first T20 World Cup victory, the tournament underlined disturbing trends that should be addressed urgently by the ICC.

Reigning champions the West Indies missed out on a semi-final spot, their narrow win over Bangladesh being their only victory in five qualifying games.

This tournament was the international swansong for Dwayne Bravo, 38, and probably Chris Gayle, 42, and the worry is there are not enough talented players coming through to replace them.

When the West Indies were at their all-conquering best in the 1980s and '90s, their battles against Australia were exhilarating.

Stars such as Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Brian Lara, Malcolm Marshall, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were revered at home and around the world.

Those days are long gone. Now most Australians would struggle to name one Windies Test player, with teams even reticent to visit the Caribbean.

The last time the West Indies toured here for a five-Test series was in 2000-01 when the home team completed a whitewash.

Since that series, Australia has lost only one of 21 Tests against the West Indies, winning 16 with four draws.

Australia won the last series between the two teams 2-0 in 2015-16, with the rain-shortened third Test at the SCG drawn.

This year the West Indies scrambled to defeat Bangladesh 2-0 in hard-fought Tests, then drew both Tests with Sri Lanka in the Caribbean. In their last Test series in June, they lost easily to South Africa 2-0.

The Proteas' stocks have not slipped as dramatically as the West Indies, but they also have their problems, as shown in this T20 tournament.

Along with the West Indies, they failed to qualify for the semi-finals, following on from the disappointing result in the one-day World Cup more than two years ago when both teams also missed the semi-finals.

For the past few years, the game in South Africa has been plagued by internal bickering over their controversial selection policy.

Since the retirement from international cricket of experienced duo AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla in the past few years, the Proteas have struggled with the bat, although their bowling attack remains potent.

Their Test results in 2021 have been a mixed bag.

They started the year well, with a 2-0 win against Sri Lanka at home, then soon after lost away to Pakistan 2-0 before defeating the Windies in the Caribbean.

At least Pakistan appears to be on the right track despite losing to Australia in last Friday's T20 semi-final.

The Australians are due to make a long-awaited return to Pakistani soil in 2022 after 24 years for three Tests, three one-day internationals and a T20 game and it should be competitive.

Mitch Marsh's powerful, match-winning batting display in the T20 final shows he has what it takes on the international stage.

The West Australian all-rounder's challenge is to reboot his Test career, which has been in limbo for more than two years.

Marsh's last Test was against England at The Oval in 2019 and he has a batting average of only 25.20 from 32 Tests.

But Marsh, 30, has worked hard on his weaknesses and there is a spot for him as a batting all-rounder in the Ashes series starting next month.

Marsh has struggled as a bowler at Test level (average 38.64) and his WA teammate Cameron Green has grabbed his opportunity as an all-rounder.

But Green batting at No. 5 and Marsh at No. 6 at the Gabba is not out of the question.

South Australian captain Travis Head and his Queensland counterpart Usman Khawaja have also made claims for a Test recall at No. 5, with solid form in the Sheffield Shield.

Sadly, many people did not watch the impressive performances by Marsh, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and Black Caps captain Kane Williamson live because of the unsuitable timing.

Although there was a vast worldwide TV audience, particularly in the sub-continent, it should have been switched to a day game, enabling more Australians and New Zealanders to tune in.

But with India exerting inordinate power within the ICC, it was never going to happen.

As international cricket umpires' reliance on technology has increased exponentially in the past decade, their traditional on-field duties have reduced considerably.

One of their important roles has been to hold caps and sunglasses not required by players at certain times, for example, when they are bowling. But as evidenced during the T20 World Cup, umpires have also relinquished that task.

In one match, there was a ludicrous situation when a Bangladeshi fielder was wearing four caps and two pairs of sunglasses from his teammates.

Apart from being uncomfortable, it would be difficult going for a catch or even diving in the field if any of the caps or sunglasses fell off.

Umpires have an important role to play and improving standards should be a priority for the ICC. They should not be there purely to count the balls and call the end of overs.