Shambolic World Cup final scenes sum up tournament
By John Mehaffey
Guyana Chronicle
April 30, 2007
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (Reuters) - Shambolic scenes of disarray on the field and confusion among the spectators provided a sorry metaphor for the 2007 World Cup in the gloom of the Kensington Oval on Saturday evening.
Australia, the most awe-inspiring team in international sport, twice celebrated victory over Sri Lanka because of officials who either did not know or had forgotten their own rules.
After being recalled to the field unnecessarily for three more overs in a match which both teams realised had already finished according to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rain regulations, Australia duly completed a unique third successive Cup triumph.
Their commanding victory was set up by an innings of 149 by vice-captain Adam Gilchrist of an audacity and enterprise surpassing West Indies captain Clive Lloyd in 1975 and Viv Richards four years later.
But even this inspired display, in which the ball sailed over the boundary eight times, was pushed into the background by the muddle at the end to Gilchrist's resigned bemusement at the post-match interviews.
ICC president Percy Sonn and chief executive Malcolm Speed were booed at the closing ceremony by the same crowd who cheered the two great Barbadian cricketers, Garfield Sobers and Everton Weekes.
WOOLMER DEATH
Tragedy irrevocably scarred the tournament in the opening round when Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer died at the age of 58 after he was found unconscious in his hotel room on March 18 following his team's unexpected loss to Ireland in Jamaica.
Shock turned to disbelief when deputy Jamaican police commissioner Mark Shields announced Woolmer had been strangled and that police had launched a murder inquiry.
A police statement said the death was "due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation".
Speculation has concentrated on illegal bookmakers in the Indian sub-continent where millions of dollars are bet on international cricket and where a former Pakistan and Indian captain have been banned for life for involvement in match-fixing. No arrests have yet been made.
The ICC were widely viewed in the Caribbean as the villains behind an over-long and over-priced tournament which took 46 days to discover that Australia were the world's best team by a distance.
Ticket prices starting at US$25 were beyond the reach of most local fans and the host of early restrictions on musical instruments alienated them further.
As a result they simply stayed away and the traditional West Indies' carnival atmosphere used by the ICC to help promote the event and attract visitors from overseas was absent.
"The ICC should be sued," Antiguan resident Alexis Jacobs told Reuters. "They charge first-world prices in a third-world country. They stopped the carnival atmosphere. Cricket in the Caribbean should be fun in the sun."
FEW HIGHLIGHTS
Speed defended the ICC, saying the prices had been set in conjunction with local organising committees and pointed out that the World Cup was a global event which required rules similar to other big tournaments.
The ICC, though, implicitly acknowledged the criticisms by lifting some of the more petty regulations and the atmosphere was certainly more vibrant from the second round.
Local organisers were friendly, helpful and usually efficient and fears of transport and accommodation chaos proved unfounded.
On the playing side, former winners Pakistan and India's first-round exits, although thoroughly deserved, devalued the tournament and kept thousands of potential spectators at home.
Too many games were too predictable with rare exceptions such as Ireland's tie with Zimbabwe, South Africa's narrow second-round win over Sri Lanka and England's one-wicket victory over West Indies in the final Super Eight match.
Individual highlights such as Herschelle Gibbs's six sixes in an over against the Netherlands and Lasith Malinga's four wickets in four balls for Sri Lanka were also sporadic.
Throughout the seven weeks in eight Caribbean regions the relentless excellence of the unbeaten Australians illuminated the tournament.
Opener Matthew Hayden scored the most runs, man-of-the-tournament Glenn McGrath in his final international series took the most wickets. Captain Ricky Ponting drove his men ruthlessly, setting ever higher standards of power and aggression.
Nobody challenged the Australians over the length of a game apart from themselves as they completed their season with the Champions Trophy, the Ashes and now a fourth World Cup.
"We've dominated this tournament like no team has dominated a tournament before," said Ponting. "We've never really been tested.”