Criticism of Umpires
Whilst the majority of the tournament passed without any major criticism of the umpires or errors on their part, the Final was wrought with confusion and was described as a "farcical finish" to the competition.
Rain affected the start of the match, reducing the contest to 38 overs a side, and further rain reduced the Sri Lankan innings to 36 overs. With Australia almost certain victors with just 3 overs to go, bad light began to affect play and the umpires seemed to offer the Sri Lankans the opportunity to leave the field for bad light. Both teams assumed this would have granted Australia victory that evening, but the they were soon informed that if the light improved the match would have to continue; and if not then the final 3 overs would be played the next day. Sri Lanka's batsmen eventually came out and played out the final 3 overs regardless, and Australia were eventually crowned champions.
Match referee Jeff Crowe revealed a "communication breakdown" between himself, on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor and third umpire Rudi Koertzen was to blame for the mix-up, which overlooked Law 21 of the laws of cricket. The law states that, in a One Day International, providing a minimum of 20 overs have been played then a result can be reached using the Duckworth-Lewis system.
The ICC issued a statement apologising for occurrence of the incident, but said that none of those involved would be sacked. Two months later it was announced that all five officials involved - the two on field umpires, the third and fourth umpires and the match referee - were to be reprimanded by suspension to prevent them officiating in the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship.
Read more about this topic: 2007 Cricket World Cup Umpires
Famous quotes containing the word criticism:
“Parents sometimes feel that if they don’t criticize their child, their child will never learn. Criticism doesn’t make people want to change; it makes them defensive.”
—Laurence Steinberg (20th century)