WORLD CUP cricket was never going to generate the same kind of interest as its football equivalent, yet there's no denying the event remains one of the biggest on the global calendar.

And it's a pity that a tournament of such significance has been blighted by so many problems and controversies - most of which should have been avoided.

Surprise results where the underdogs overcome their more fancied opponents often provide a fairytale element which makes competition all the more intriguing and entertaining.

But in the current World Cup such results have for the most part been manufactured off the field by politics and poor decision-making rather than any flashes of genius on it.

There's clearly something very wrong in a 12-nation tournament in which four of the better teams - in this case hosts South Africa, West Indies, England and Pakistan - all fail to reach the final six.

To be fair, none of the above played their best cricket and ultimately have only themselves to blame for suffering an early exit.

But there's no getting away from the fact that the political wrangling which led to England pulling out of their match in Zimbabwe, and New Zealand refusing to travel to Kenya, in turn leading to the forfeit of points, made a huge difference to the final group standings - not to mention the morale of those players involved.

And this was then compounded by the organisers' decision neither to continue nor reschedule matches washed out by rain - as had been the case in previous World Cups.

Add to this the fact that during day/night matches most teams batting first enjoyed a considerable advantage and we're left with a tournament in which luck has become an essential ingredient for success.

Scheduling - whether a team was slated to play in strife-torn Zimbabwe or not - the weather and the toss of a coin have so far all influenced the outcome of matches.

Australia, meanwhile, have marched on relentlessly, seemingly unaffected by any of the distractions and will most likely confirm their world dominance by lifting the trophy, barely breaking sweat.

The Aussies undoubtedly are a class apart but in this World Cup circumstances have played into their hands and contrived to make them even more overwhelming favourites than when the event began.

The idea of allowing teams such as Canada, Holland and Namibia to compete in Southern Africa was to help promote cricket outside of the Test-playing nations.

To a certain extent it has done that, but unfortunately what we've seen so far has done little to enhance the game's overall image.

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IT WAS interesting that last Sunday's final round of local league football matches were all played despite the fact that the weather was as bad as we've had it on any match-day all season.

No doubt, with so much at stake in the championship race and the relegation battle, Bermuda Football Association were keen to see all games played on the same day so as not to give any club an unfair advantage.

But both this season and in many past, games have been called off when pitches were in far better shape and the weather far less severe than was the case last weekend.

Elsewhere in the world, football isn't a fair-weather sport. Players actually do get their knees dirty and their shorts and shirts covered in mud. Yet too often in Bermuda we see games postponed at the first sight of a raindrop.

Hopefully, last Sunday's decision to brave the elements and play in conditions which elsewhere would be considered perfectly acceptable, will set the tone for seasons to come.

- ADRIAN ROBSON