ICC statement regarding appointment of officials for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa by ICC Media Release

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Ground:	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
Scorecard:	Australia v Sri Lanka
Player:	SA Bucknor, RE Koertzen, BF Bowden, JJ Crowe, DJ Richardson, MW Speed, Aleem Dar
Event:	ICC Twenty20 World Championship 2007/08, ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 23rd June 2007

 

Following the mistake made by the five-man playing control team during the ICC Cricket World Cup final in Barbados, the ICC today confirmed it will not be appointing those officials for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in September.

 

ICC match referee Jeff Crowe and umpires Steve Bucknor, Aleem Dar, Rudi Koertzen and Billy Bowden 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.

 

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.

 

“It would have been easy to let sleeping dogs lie and pretend nothing happened,” said ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed.

 

“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.

 

“We feel that to stand them down for this two-week tournament is a proportionate measure,” he said.

 

Reacting to the decision, Crowe said: “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.”

 

The final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 was won by Australia by 53 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

 

Appointments of ICC match referees and umpires for the ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 will be made and announced in due course.

 

The tournament, involving the ten ICC Full Members, as well as Kenya and Scotland, is scheduled to take place at three venues – Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg – between September 11 and 24.