Australia celebrate their latest triumph (Getty Images)

By Myles Hodgson, PA Sport, Johannesburg

Australia's anti-climactic victory over India to retain the World Cup was a fitting finale to a tournament which confused, frustrated and only occasionally enthralled the supporters it was supposed to attract.

By giving the 2003 tournament to South Africa, the International Cricket Council provided an opportunity to develop the sport in Africa and raise the country's profile after over two decades of isolation from the international arena during the apartheid years.

While the arrival of cricket's superstars unquestionably caught the public's imagination in South Africa, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the host nation's early exit, the lack of tension, momentum or excitement in all too many of the matches allowed that attention to waver.

The majority of the 54 scheduled matches - two of which failed to take place because of security fears by England and New Zealand - were all too one-sided, including both semi-finals and the final won so comprehensively by Australia.

That was partly the fault of the organisers and their decision to allow too many points to be carried forward by the qualifiers to the Super Sixes so the majority of the matches during that stage were almost meaningless.

Australia took so many points into the Super Sixes they not only knew they were in the last four but could also begin planning to play at Port Elizabeth in the semi-finals.

It was a similar story with Kenya, who benefited from the forfeiture of points by New Zealand after they refused to travel to Nairobi, and knew one victory would seal their place in the last four - which they achieved with a deserved triumph over Zimbabwe.

At least Kenya provided some romance to a tournament all too predictable in its outcomes, the smiling face of the competition who became the people's champions with the vibrant nature of their cricket.

Yet as a tournament it began promisingly, a colourful opening ceremony in Cape Town followed by a memorable Brian Lara century allowing West Indies to beat the hosts and provide the first shock.

That provided a lift to a competition already riddled with political arguments and discussions with England refusing to go to Harare and play because of safety fears and the ICC succeeding in making a mockery of the remainder of the tournament by refusing appeal after appeal.

Their refusal to accept both England's and New Zealand's appeal allowed Zimbabwe's progress to the next stage despite the fact they had not recorded a single victory over notable opposition.

Other major casualties of the first round included Pakistan, whose only noteworthy contribution to the tournament was Wasim Akram's achievement in claiming his 500th one-day international wicket, and West Indies, whose progress was halted by a washed-out match against Bangladesh.

India recovered from an early hammering by Australia to qualify alongside the world champions with Sachin Tendulkar showing signs of form which promised to take his side to the latter stages while South Africa mourned the loss of their national team from their own competition, a failure which resulted in the sacking of captain Shaun Pollock after a Duckworth-Lewis miscalculation in their tied match against Sri Lanka.

The second stages were as lamentable as the semi-finals, although there were some impressive performances, most notably the fast bowlers with Shane Bond excelling for New Zealand against Australia only for Brett Lee to complete another comprehensive victory for Australia.

At least the form of India provided hope of a competitive and compelling finale to a well-organised but ill-conceived tournament.

Tendulkar, the emergence of left-arm seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan and the stubborn captaincy of Sourav Ganguly showed signs of a side emerging which could challenge Australia at the final stage.

Instead, an Australian side which entered the tournament as overwhelming favourites gave the outstanding performance of the competition to brush aside India's challenge with such ruthlessness it was almost an embarrassment.

Dr Ali Bacher was forced to battle with a gathering storm, which had threatened to make a mockery even of the final, and an increasingly disinterested South African public during a closing ceremony which was as rushed as the thought process which went into the tournament's format.

Every senior member of the ICC promised a thorough review for the next tournament in West Indies, by which time cricket will be hoping they come up with a better structure and a team capable of challenging Australia's dominance and prevent them claiming a unique hat-trick of successive World Cup triumphs.