To call this year's cricket World Cup a disappointment would be being generous. Heading into the tournament, excitement surrounded the hosting of the competition by the West Indies and the possibility that a then out-of-form Australia might have a battle on their hands to retain their title as world champions.

With the popularity of West Indian cricket having dropped substantially in recent years, this was meant to be the event that would give a much-needed boost to cricket in the Caribbean. However, ticket prices that are out of reach for the average West Indian have left most of the grounds empty, reducing the atmosphere at the event to the odd drunk Australian playing around in the ground’s pool with his inflatable kangaroo.

The scheduling of matches hasn't helped, either. With each team playing an average of one game per week, it has seemed to be going on forever. In no other World Cup competition can a team go on fishing trips mid-tournament or have a two-week break before their next match.

Just when you thought they were getting somewhere after the group stages, the longest and probably the dullest part of the tournament began - the Super 8s. What do you do when you have eight teams left? Start the knockout stages by playing the quarter-finals? Not with the ICC. They decided the remaining teams would all play each other, leaving us with a stage that was not only tedious but ran for over a month, making most of the remaining viewers turn their attention towards something else.

Like every tournament, this World Cup has had it highlights, like the upsets of India and Pakistan, the pounding the Dutch took from South Africa and the final match in the outstanding career of Brian Lara. But most of the talk in local pubs and clubs has been the pure boredom that has been generated by the tournament.

Unfortunately, this World Cup will be remembered mostly for the murder of Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer, who was found dead in his hotel room after his side's loss to Ireland, and the empty seats that have surrounded the world's best players in the Caribbean.