ICC dumps five officials for World Cup final blunder

Dubai, June 23 (UNI) The five match officials whose blunder made this year's World Cup final in West Indies a farce, have been ruled out for appointment in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September.

In a stern step, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has penalised on-field umpires Steve Bucknor and Aleem Dar, reserve umpires Rudi Koertzen and Billy Bowden and ICC match referee Jeff Crowe, who were responsible for the blunder that saw Australia beat Sri Lanka under the Duckworth-Lewis system in what can be termed as semi-darkness to lift the World Cup in Barbados, by announcing that they would not be considered for the September tourney.

The five wise men have incorrectly ruled that, after a stoppage for bad light, the match would have to be completed the following day even though the minimum 20 overs in the second innings had already been bowled.

But with both sides keen to avoid that fate and with the match already all but decided in Australia's favour, it meant the final three overs of Sri Lanka's innings were played out in near darkness.

''In the wake of what happened ICC Manager Cricket, David Richardson carried out a full investigation which included seeking the interpretation of all five officials. The result is the penalties imposed,'' said an ICC statement yesterday.

Commenting on the decision, ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said, ''It would have been easy to let sleeping dogs lie and pretend nothing happened.

''But the reality is that the playing control team made a serious and fundamental error that caused the final of our flagship event to end in disarray and confusion.

''That was not acceptable for such experienced and talented officials and although we do not like to have to take such action, we felt it was necessary to decline to appoint them for our next event, the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa.'' The ICC was later heavily criticised for the way it organised the Caribbean World Cup after the event ended in farcical circumstances.

Crowe, however, admitted his team's mistake and duly accepted the punishment imposed on them by the cricket's governing body.

''While it is never easy to take criticism, I think it is right that there are consequences for our actions as match officials. In this instance I understand that the ICC could not merely let it go.

''We set ourselves high standards as match officials and at the end of that day we did not reach those standards. It was not a pleasant experience for us but hopefully now we can look forward and learn from it.'' UNI