2007 Cricket World Cup

Prior to the main tournament, all 16 nations played a series of warm-up matches to prepare, experiment with different tactics, and to help them get acclimated to conditions in the West Indies. The warm-up matches were not considered as official ODIs.[11] The matches were played from Monday 5 March until Friday 9 March.

Alison Hinds performing during the ceremony.

Fireworks in the opening ceremony of the 2007 Cricket World Cup

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony was held on Sunday, 11 March 2007, at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica.[12] It featured over 2,000 dancers and performers representing all strands of West Indian music, from calypso and ragga to reggae and soca. Among the performers were Sean Paul, Byron Lee, Kevin Lyttle, Beres Hammond, Lucky Dube, Buju Banton, Half Pint, Arrow, Machel Montano, Alison Hinds, Tony Rebel, Third World, Gregory Isaacs, David Rudder, Shaggy, the I Threes, and Jimmy Cliff.

The ceremony, attended by several heads of state including the Governor-General of Jamaica, started with an address by Sir Garfield Sobers and included messages from the prime ministers of Jamaica and Grenada.

The matches were One Day Internationals and operated under normal ODI rules. All matches were to be 50 overs a side unless stated otherwise by the umpires or match referee. A bowler was able to bowl a maximum of 10 overs per match.

In the event of bad weather, each side must have batted a minimum of 20 overs for a result to be declared (if the match was not otherwise won, for example if the team batting second were dismissed before the completion of 20 overs). In the event of bad weather, the Duckworth-Lewis method was to be applied to determine the result or target. If no result was declared on the scheduled day, the teams would return the following day to complete the game, with the same situation as when the game was abandoned.

There was a new rule regarding referral of catches to the TV replay official (third umpire): if the standing umpires were unable to determine whether a catch had been taken cleanly, and/or whether a claimed catch was a "bump ball", they had discretion to refer the decision to the third umpire. Also, whilst reviewing such a catch via TV replay if it was clear to the third umpire that the batsman did not hit the ball, he was to indicate that the batsman was not out.[13]

In the Group and Super 8 stages, points were awarded as follows:

The top two teams from each group advanced to the Super 8 stage and any points they earned against the other qualifier from their own group was carried through. Points earned against the non-qualifying teams in the same pool were not carried over. In the Super 8s, each team played the six remaining qualifiers from the other groups and the top four teams went through to the semi-finals. Positions were decided by most points. Where two or more teams were tied on points, the following methods in turn were used to decide which team went through:[13]

1. Most wins in their group or in Super 8, whichever is applicable
2. Higher net run rate
3. Higher number of wickets taken per ball
4. Winners of head-to-head matches
5. The drawing of lots

The tournament began with a league stage consisting of four groups of four. Each team played each of the other teams in its group once. Australia, India, England, and the West Indies were placed in separate pools for logistical reasons, as they were expected to have the most supporters in attendance, and transport and accommodation capacity in the West Indies was limited.[14]

The groups are listed below, with seedings (rankings from April 2005) shown in brackets. Each group played all of its matches at a single ground.

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Australia (1)	Sri Lanka (2)	New Zealand (3)	Pakistan (4)
South Africa (5)	India (6)	England (7)	West Indies (8)
Scotland (12)	Bangladesh (11)	Kenya (10)	Zimbabwe (9)
Netherlands (16)	Bermuda (15)	Canada (14)	Ireland (13)

The tournament was preceded by a number of warm-up matches to allow the players to acclimatise to the conditions in the West Indies. The group stage matches started on 13 March and finished on 25 March. There were a total of 24 matches played in the group stage.

The top two teams in each group proceeded to the "Super 8" stage which also used a league system. Each team carried forward its result against the other team qualifying from its preliminary stage group, and played the other six qualifying teams once each. The top four teams in the league qualified for the semi-finals. This system was modified since the previous World Cup, which had a "Super 6" stage rather than a Super 8. The Super 8 stage matches were played from Tuesday 27 March until Saturday 21 April. A total of 24 matches were played in the Super 8 stage.

The top four teams in the "Super 8" advanced to the semi-finals. This was the knockout stage, with the No. 1 team playing the No. 4 team, and the No. 2 team playing the No. 3 team in the tournament. The winners of the two semi-finals played each other in the Final.

All tournament matches had one reserve day (the day after the scheduled day of the match) to allow for matches to be completed in the event of bad weather.

28 April 2007 Scorecard

Australia  281/4 (38 overs)

v

Sri Lanka 215/8 (36 overs)

Australia won by 53 runs (D/L) Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Final of 2007 Cricket World Cup between Sri Lanka and Australia

This was the first World Cup final to be a repeat: the sides previously met in the 1996 World Cup final, which Sri Lanka won. Australia had won every World Cup match against Sri Lanka apart from that loss.[15] The match was Sri Lanka's second World Cup final appearance, and Australia's fourth in a row and sixth overall. Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat. However, the start of play was delayed due to rain, and the match was reduced to 38 overs per side. Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist played an innings of 149 – the highest for any batsman in a World Cup final – to give Australia an imposing total going in at the break.[16]

A large crowd of over 10,000 fans welcome the Australian team on completing the first World Cup hat-trick – Martin Place, Sydney.

While Sri Lankan batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya were adding 116 for the second wicket, the contest was alive, but after the pair got out, Sri Lanka's chances slowly diminished.[16] Further rain forced the reduction of Sri Lanka's innings to just 36 overs, with the target revised to 269. At the end of the 33rd over, with Sri Lanka still trailing the adjusted Duckworth-Lewis target by 37 runs, the umpires suspended the game due to bad light. While Australia's players began to celebrate their victory (since the minimum 20 overs had been reached), the umpires incorrectly announced that because the match was suspended due to light and not rain, the final three overs would have to be bowled the following day. With Sri Lanka needing 61 runs from 18 deliveries, Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene agreed there was no need to return the following day, and instructed his team to resume batting; Ponting agreed to play only spin bowlers. The last three overs were played in almost complete darkness, during which Sri Lanka added just nine runs to give Australia a 53-run victory by the D-L method.[17] The umpires later apologised for their error, saying that the match should have ended then with Australia winning by 37 runs.[18]

Australian captain Ricky Ponting

Australia won the tournament undefeated, extending their streak of World Cup matches without a loss to 29.[19] Australian bowler Glenn McGrath was named 'Player of the Series' and retired from all forms of international cricket.[20]

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was found dead on 18 March 2007, one day after his team's defeat to Ireland put them out of the running for the World Cup. Jamaican police performed an autopsy which was deemed inconclusive.[1] The following day police announced that the death was suspicious and ordered a full investigation.[2] Further investigation revealed the cause of death was "manual strangulation",[21] and that the investigation would be handled as a murder.[22] After a lengthy investigation the Jamaican police rescinded the comments that he was murdered, and confirmed that he died from natural causes.[23] In November 2007, an open verdict was returned.[3]

The 2007 World Cup organisers were criticised early on for being over-commercialised and, in particular, the generally smaller crowds have been blamed on the ICC's security restrictions on things such as outside food, signs, replica kits, and musical instruments, despite Caribbean cricketing customs,[24] as well as the authorities being accused of "running [cricket and cricketing traditions] out of town, then sanitising it out of existence".[25] Sir Viv Richards echoed the concerns.[26] The ICC were also condemned for high prices of tickets and concessions, which were considered unaffordable for the local population in many of the locations.[27] ICC CEO, Malcolm Speed, said that the ICC recognised the problem but said it was the local organisers' fault.[28] However, the later matches had more crowds as the tournament progressed with the local organisers easing restrictions.[29] Although it did not meet the target of US$42 million, the US$32 million revenue from ticket sales was the highest of any Cricket World Cup and double that of the previous World Cup.[30][31][32]

The World Cup was also criticised by the BCCI for its format because India failed to move on from the group stage after losing two of their three matches. The BCCI later claimed it would see to it that the ICC alter its format for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.[33] The elimination of both India and Pakistan also caused a large exodus of subcontinental fans from the Caribbean, and removed the prospect of an India vs Pakistan Super Eights match, generally considered one of the most revenue generating and electric matches in the tournament.

The tournament was also criticised as being too long.[34] At 6 weeks, it was the same length as the 2003 World Cup, but longer than the 5-week 1999 World Cup and the 4-week 1996 World Cup. The famous West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding also criticised the qualification process for the 2007 World Cup. Holding expressed doubts over the benefit to less-established teams of turning up and being heavily defeated.[35] However, former Scotland captain George Salmond claims that the opportunity to play one-day cricket against the bigger teams is invaluable for smaller teams such as his own, and questioned the validity of Holding's statements.[36] The majority of the experts and players participating in the tournament backed up the smaller teams taking part in the World Cup.[37] This was further backed up with Ireland and Bangladesh making the Super 8s and being competitive and sportsmanlike throughout the tournament.[38]

Further criticism was generated by the confusion at the end of the final match: the umpires announced that play was suspended due to bad light, which caused the Australian team to erupt in celebration as the scoreboard and official announcements declared Australia the winners. However, the umpires incorrectly insisted that the game was only suspended and not completed, and that 3 overs remained to be played, so in farcical light conditions, Sri Lanka batted out the remaining 3 overs following a gentleman's agreement between the two captains.[39] The umpires and the ICC apologised for the unnecessary situation and cited it as an unnecessary fundamental error due to the pressure of the situation.[40] In June, the ICC announced that the officials involved – onfield umpires Steve Bucknor and Aleem Dar, reserve umpires Rudi Koertzen and Billy Bowden, and match referee Jeff Crowe – would all be suspended from the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship.[41]

A number of preparation problems surfaced before the start of the World Cup. Some of the venues were not complete by the opening ceremony on 11 March 2007.[42] At Sabina Park, seats had to be removed at the newly constructed north-stand due to safety concerns.[43] At Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica, ground staff were unable to gain admission to the ground during the warm-up matches due to accreditation problems.[44] Additionally, South Africa and Australia both expressed concerns over practice facilities.[45]