Cricket World Cup 1st XI: Jeff Crowe left in dark

Play continues in virtual darkness at the end of the 2007 World Cup final. Picture / AP

With the World Cup just weeks away, we list the stories that define the tournament.

No 11: Jeff Crowe left in the dark, 2007

The 2007 World Cup final in Barbados should be remembered for Adam Gilchrist's 149 off 104 balls in a rain-shortened 38-over match. Instead, it ended, literally, with a nightmare.

The officials, led by match referee Jeff Crowe, failed to acknowledge a result after 33 overs of Sri Lanka's reply, despite the playing conditions requiring only 20 overs to justify a match. With the spring sun gone, Sri Lanka's batsmen were offered the light at 206 for seven, chasing a Duckworth-Lewis adjusted 269 with 18 balls left. They accepted and Australia celebrated a third consecutive World Cup ... until the teams were instructed to bowl three more overs or return the next day.

Australia's Ricky Ponting thought it was a joke; Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene agreed out of goodwill. Sri Lanka completed the farce against spin in the dark to keep the officials happy.

Booing ensued at the presentation ceremony before Crowe wore more opprobrium at the press conference. The former New Zealand captain accepted the blame with the dignity that always marked him as a cricketer worthy of respect.

Oddly enough, the scenario seemed an appropriate climax to a tournament which had yawned for 47 days suffering poor crowds, one-sided matches, a gagged Caribbean spirit and the mysterious death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer.

The final had been a chance for redemption but led to chaos.

Third umpire Rudi Koertzen apparently initiated the maelstrom.

"Sometimes you get a stronger voice who says, 'I know the rules - this is how it works'," Crowe said. "Then you get a bit of confusion in the group itself, and no one wants to overrule the other.

"I don't think it's Rudi's mistake. It's a collective mistake. The fact Rudi might have suggested it early doesn't mean the other umpires [Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor] couldn't have over-ruled him.

"In hindsight, I should have known the rules and said the game had been called off. I'm very embarrassed for the playing control team."

Crowe and his accomplices were suspended for the World Twenty20 in South Africa in September with chief executive Malcolm Speed saying, "the playing control team made a serious and fundamental error that caused the final of our flagship event to end in disarray and confusion".

Crowe has otherwise had an exemplary record as a match referee. He returned to control the 2011 final between Sri Lanka and India when he presided over a double coin toss after no one heard Kumar Sangakkara's initial call in the cacophony of Wankhede Stadium.