Spectators throwing bottles onto the outfield interrupted the seventh and final one-day international before West Indies eventually beat Australia by eight wickets in Bridgetown, Barbados yesterday. The controversial dismissal of West Indian opener Sherwin Campbell, who was run out after colliding with bowler Brendon Julian, sparked the crowd trouble.
Australian captain Steve Waugh was nearly hit on the head by one bottle as he led his team back to the dressing rooms with glass littering the playing area.
Play resumed after a meeting between International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Raman Subba Row, the Australian and West Indies team managements and local officials at which it was decided to reinstate Campbell.
Subba Row said: "The Australians have said they would like Campbell to be brought back. The run-out was six of one and half a dozen of the other. There was nothing malicious in it."
The bottle-throwing came just four days after spectators invaded the pitch in the closing moments of the fifth match in Georgetown on Wednesday, preventing Australia's last pair from scoring a third run to level the scores.
That match was declared a tie by Subba Row, so that West Indies' win yesterday meant the series ended with the teams all square at 3-3.
The West Indians were 138 for two off 29 of their 50 overs in reply to Australia's 252 for nine when the match was halted by the bottle throwing.
When play continued, West Indies' target had been revised under an official calculation to 196 in 40 overs.
Campbell was dismissed after adding 10 to the 52 he had scored when he was given run out, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Jimmy Adams swept their side home with three overs to spare at 197 for two.
Scores: Australia 252-9 (50 overs), West Indies (set a revised target of 196 in 40 overs) 197-2 (37). Series ends level 3-3, with one match tied.
Earlier the West Indies all-rounder Carl Hooper announced his shock retirement from international cricket just three weeks before the start of the World Cup.
Hooper was unavailable for comment but West Indies manager Clive Lloyd said the veteran of 80 tests and 183 one-day internationals was no longer enjoying his cricket.
"It came as a shock to all of us," Lloyd said. "We are very disappointed, to replace someone like Carl Hooper is not easy because I think he is a class batsman and probably one of the finest batsmen around when he is on form."
His retirement compels West Indies to amend their World Cup plans. The WICB will ask the International Cricket Council's technical committee for permission to draft a replacement player into their squad.
The Guyana-born 32-year-old all-rounder missed the opening two Tests of the recent four-match series against Australia because he was in Australia with his wife and newly-born son, who was ill.
He returned to the Caribbean for the final two Tests and confirmed he wanted to play in the World Cup, but appeared to be lacking fitness and commitment and produced a series of mediocre displays on his return.
Hooper, at his best an elegant strokemaker with a sound technique as well as being a useful offspinner, made his Test debut against India at Bombay in the 1987-88 series.
He scored 4,153 test runs at an average of 33.76, with an unbeaten 178 the highest of his nine centuries. He took 93 Test wickets at an average of 47.01, with a best of five for 26. Despite gracing the Test arena with some handsome innings, he never quite fulfilled his immense potential at Test level, as his career figures indicate.
Hooper has spent five successful seasons on the English county circuit with Kent, making his debut in 1992 and becoming a popular and respected cricketer. He scored more than 1,000 runs in county championship matches in each of his five summers with Kent.
