Our best opportunity was to give away a bonus point to give us our best chance of making the final

Stephen Fleming

It has worked well in domestic cricket and has added some interest to this competition

Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh refuses to condemn the bonus-point system

But Australia, the victims of this anomaly, have refused to condemn the system, first adopted in their domestic one-day competition.

"I think you have to have a look at it for one year" said skipper Steve Waugh.

"Obviously, there are different scenarios that pop up, and probably a couple that had not been thought about over the past few days.

"I think it has worked well in domestic cricket and has added some interest to this competition."

But the problems the bonus point has created are obvious.

Not cricket

Not only has it produced play far away from the spirit of the game, it detracts from the entertainment value, the very thing it was brought in for in the first place.

Spectators know they are watching cricketers playing within themselves, and anyone who has had a bet on the game can justifiably claim to have been cheated.

On the other hand, Sunday's final preliminary game is all set to be a classic, precisely because the bonus-point system is in place.

Australia know they need to gain that extra point against South Africa in order to guarantee a place in the finals.

This can only add to the drama of an already crucial game, exactly what the bonus point is there to do.

The incident has brought back memories of the last World Cup in 1999 when Australia agreed to use go-slow tactics against the West Indies to threaten New Zealand's chances of progressing in the tournament.

Again, the tournament rules were at fault; with points gained against fellow-qualifiers carried through from round one, the eventual champions were looking for an easier route through the second round.

Bad feeling

But despite the bad-feeling generated by the match, the prospect of two sides conspiring to eliminate another is again possible in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, when similar rules will be in place.

Indeed, the only way manipulated games could be avoided, was if the entire final round of group matches were scheduled for the same day, so teams were less able to monitor other results.

But with the tournament organisers desperate to maximise revenues from television coverage, such a plan is unlikely, and the games will remain spread out.

Whether it be annual tri-nations series, or the showpiece World Cup, cricket's organisers must somehow come up with the best way of running the sport's competitions.

A system must be devised which encourage entertaining play, and prevents the kind of farce seen this week.