May 3
There will be many descriptions of the 2007 ICC World Cup and they won't all be complimentary!
In the final analysis it all comes down to everyone's expectations and that means different strokes for different folks. For example, if you were an Australian cricketer then it couldn't have been much better as your team was virtually invincible in every department and largely unchallenged in every match. At the other end of the expectation ladder Ireland and Bangladesh will certainly feel they exceeded their expectations, while South Africa , New Zealand , West Indies and England will be disappointed at their performances. India and Pakistan will be devastated at their early exit and the others, including the popular Sri Lankans, will live for another day. If your were a traveling supporter you may feel very disgruntled at the way the tickets were priced and distributed, and to add insult to injury, if you had the additional expenditure of a visa. And all this even before a ball was bowled. Add the extra expenditure of air travel in the islands, expensive and limited accommodation, plus the unnecessary length of the tournament, then it was certainly an expensive holiday for most visitors! If you were a government that had invested millions of dollars in building new stadiums, infrastructure, and providing subsidies to organizers, hoteliers and travel companies, then you have to count the cost. Yes, many of those vacant seats may have been prepaid, but the absence of the ticket holders meant they didn't travel and therefore they didn't spend any money in the Caribbean . If you were a business person that bought merchandise to sell, or invested heavily in promotional events on the expectation of big crowds, then you may have taken a hit on your outlay, especially when the high numbers of Indian and Pakistani travelers unashamedly cancelled out. Finally if you were an organizer at either ICC or West Indies Cricket Board level then you certainly took a lot of unexpected criticism from all and sundry for eliminating the Caribbean flavor of West Indies cricket by banning musical instruments and refreshments, and pricing the tickets well beyond the reach of local people. You should also review the length of the tournament which went on far too long, and the competency of decision makers, the worst of which reduced the final to a shambles. You may also want to review the numerous stoppages which removed the continuity of games and allowed players to stop the game virtually at will for some of the most flippant reasons. Finally you may fill each ground with 'suits' but at the end of the day effective decision-making was sadly missing when these problems emerged and it took several weeks to remove the ban on musical instruments and drinks. Putting bums on empty seats was largely ad hoc and left to the local organizing committees with mixed results.
Of course it would be wrong to post all the negatives and not compliment the West Indies islands for their excellent promotion and delivery, especially the Vibes volunteers who were magnificent, and it would be difficult to find criticism of the splendid facilities at every location.
But when all's said and done, this will be a tournament best remembered for all the wrong reasons than the right reasons, and that's a sad indictment on all the hard work and expense that went into promoting it.
April 29
An absolute farce is the kindest description that depicted the finish to yesterday's ICC World Cup 2007 final!
Yes, rain marred this epic occasion but some bad decisions were made by the ICC, the most embarrassing being to bring the players off in darkness with three overs still to play, and tell the teams that the match would be continued the following day. It was an horrendous blunder by match referee Jeff Crowe who should step down immediately as it was his total responsibility, irrespective of the role of the umpires on and off the field. His subsequent attempts to shift responsibility bring him no credit and highlight his inadequacies for the position.
It was sad finale to a tournament marred by poor ICC decisions and tunnel-vision bureaucracy that demeaned and devalued the biggest cricket tournament in the world, and painfully short-changed their paying West Indian hosts. These feelings were clearly demonstrated when the platform party was officially announced at the presentation and closing ceremony by TV commentator Tony Cozier. ICC President Percy Sonn, ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed, West Indies Cricket Board President Ken Gordon and his managing director and CEO Chris Dehring were all widely booed by large sections of the crowd. Only the introduction of the great Sir Everton Weekes and Sir Garry Sobers brought cheers, and some celebration to a day of frustrations and huge anti-climax.
Nobody controls the weather Gods and the tournament was dealt the unkindest blow when a wet morning in Barbados caused mayhem. There followed a series of pitch inspections, covers on and off, and total uncertainty as officials poorly managed the situation. The confused 27,000-strong crowd waited patiently until the skies cleared and a 38 over match was eventually started at 12-15, almost three hours late.
Australia won the all important toss and elected to bat, thereby condemning their opponents to bat in the poorest light conditions late in the day. Thereafter it was the Adam 
Gilchrist show in an amazing 149 runs innings that included a 72 ball century and some of the most prodigious hitting in the competition. As expected he got solid support from his talented team mates but the result was never in doubt with a 281 total in the bank.
Sri Lanka pinned their hopes on their pugnacious veteran opener Jayasuriya and wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara, and at one stage they were up with the asking rate, but inevitably the rain clouds returned and with Australia 's blistering pace it was impossible for batsmen to see the ball, let alone score runs. Wickets tumbled regularly in the gathering gloom and the spectacle became painful to watch with the removal of the competitive element. Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and his bowlers added gamesmanship to their powerful talents slowing the overs rate and there were too many unnecessary stoppages. Inevitably the game was reduced to a farce, and when the batsmen appeared to concede with three overs to go, it set off wild Australian celebrations amongst the players and the fans. Fifteen minutes later a bemused crowd saw the teams return to the pitch to play out the final three overs, a meaningless 15 minutes of 'cricket' followed by wild Australian celebrations part two.
Ponting and Australia deservedly collected their third world trophy to the delight of the thousands of their ecstatic supporters who had travelled to the game, and Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene was sporting and gracious in defeat, not once blaming conditions for his team's demise, and paying fulsome praise to the Aussies and in particular Gilchrist.
The Australian vice captain was named man-of-the-match and playing in his last game, the great Glenn McGrath was deservedly named player-of-the-tournament.
After the presentation ceremony Barbados laid on a spectacular on-field closing ceremony with a massive steel band, dancers, stilt men et al. It was another excellent showing by the host country that had been magnificent in virtually every department of organization and delivery, with the exception of the weather!
What a pity the ICC didn't measure up as well in their organization and delivery, a subject that is sure to be discussed in greater depth in the weeks and months ahead.
And for those who felt the game should have been held over until Sunday please note that it is an even wetter day in Barbados , something of a record in its own right!
