JOHANNESBURG, March 24: World Cups always herald a changing of the guard but the 2003 edition was different in that so many top-of-the-range players departed against their will.

Aravinda de Silva was the exception. Sri Lanka thanked him for two decades of distinguished service by allowing him to stage-manage his good-bye.

He graciously stepped down after losing to Australia in the semifinals.

Few others were treated with such respect.

The South African selectors were particularly trenchant.

Perhaps keen to emulate Australia’s well-documented ruthlessness in regenerating their team, they did not even wait until the end of the tournament before bringing out the knives.

Ageing paceman Allan Donald was unceremoniously dropped during the first phase of the tournament as the hosts crashed out early. Wincing, he retired.

By then Jonty Rhodes had been dropped from the squad after breaking a finger. His plea to retained in the squad and given time to heal went unheard and Rhodes also called time on his international career.

Shaun Pollock, meanwhile, was sacked as captain even before the finalists had been decided. He said he had not been given enough support but vowed to soldier on in the ranks.

Pakistan’s 36-year-old Wasim Akram, like Donald, was expected to bow out gracefully after the World Cup but he, too, allowed the selectors to get there before him.

He became the first man to reach 500 one-day wickets but, having failed to announce the end of a glittering career after the team’s first-round exit, he was sacked along with captain Waqar Younis and six other senior players. Wasim may never make it back.

Some managed to get their timing right by jumping just in time. Pakistan coach Richard Pybus, reading his tea leaves correctly, had got out early.

Nasser Hussain did as well, as he stood down as England’s one-day skipper after another less than glorious campaign.

Andy Flower, arguably Zimbabwe’s greatest batsman ever, and Henry Olonga certainly decided their own destinies.

Perhaps the biggest two casualties of South Africa 2003, however, failed to bowl a ball or hit a shot. Neither made the starting line, although for very different reasons.

Steve Waugh was not named in Australia’s squad by the selectors and was thus deprived of defending the crown he helped win in 1999.

Some Australian newspapers had been scandalised by the decision. On Monday, their front pages were adorned with pictures of a new face, the smiling Ricky Ponting, Waugh’s successor and the Man-of-the-Match in Sunday’s final against India.

Shane Warne, meanwhile, was banned for 12 months by the Australian Cricket Board after failing a drugs test. He arrived in South Africa but had already packed as the team bus set off for the first match.—Reuters