Cricket WC 2003

South Africa, Zimbabwe & Kenya 2003 : Winners - Australia

• The most recent World Cup was easily the least memorable; an overdrawn, poorly-organised event that featured too many mismatches among the 14 teams and was dominated by politics and scandal.
  
• After a saga that had dragged on for months, England refused to play in Zimbabwe for political and security reasons while New Zealand also withdrew from a game in Kenya. India almost failed to turn up due to a sponsors' dispute and the game's premier spinner Shane Warne failed a drugs test on the eve of the event.
  
• The presence of Holland, Namibia and Canada was well-intentioned but the group stages became almost interminable and the Super Six format was used again despite past criticism.
  
• Hosts South Africa exited early after misreading their Duckworth/Lewis chart, robbing the tournament of some of its vitality, while Kenya benefited from good fortune and a shock win over Sri Lanka to reach the last four.
  
• Australia, at least, were superb throughout and crushed India by 125 runs in the final after an outstanding 140 from Ricky Ponting