Officials who stood in the World Cup final which concluded in controversial manner are likely to be overlooked for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup.
MELBOURNE: Officials who stood in the World Cup final which concluded in controversial manner are likely to be overlooked for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup.
On-field umpires Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor, television umpire Rudi Koertzen, reserve umpire Billy Bowden and match referee Jeff Crowe may have to sit out of the September tournament, to be hosted by South Africa, as a consequence of their blunder, 'Herald Sun' reported on Thursday.
However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has neither confirmed nor denied the report and said a decision on who would stand in the Twenty20 World Cup would not be made until next month.
ICC spokesman Samiul Hasan said on Wednesday, "We are not in a position to confirm or deny this".
The World Cup finale became a subject of hot debate after the teams, Australia and Sri Lanka, were recalled to the field in semidarkness to complete the remaining overs in the rain affected match.
Dar, Koertzen, Bucknor, Bowden and Crowe ignored the rule that once each side has played 20 overs, the match would be considered to have been completed in case play was interrupted permanently.
Dar, on the advice of Koertzen, told the Australians that the teams would have to return to the field the following day, rest day, to complete the remaining three overs.
The ground announcer in the meantime had declared Australia as winners, prompting celebrations among Ricky Ponting's men. But after Bowden brief Ponting about the 'rules', the teams agreed to play in dark and finish the match.
The furore that followed the incident forced ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed to issue an apology.
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