For every World Cup exploit from Sachin Tendulkar, Brett Lee or Chaminda Vaas, there have been others who will simply be glad to forget the 2003 tournament.
Some of the finest players on the planet have limped home with egos bruised - and tails firmly between their legs.
Here is a selection of the under-achievers.
Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
Jayawardene was the weakest link in a Sri Lanka middle-order, which often folded like a cheap suit.
Jayawardene averaged just three
One of the most gifted right-handers in world cricket, he ended the tournament with just 21 runs from seven innings - an average of three.
Team-mates Russel Arnold and Kumar Sangakkara fared little better.
The previously beefy batsman shed 12 kilograms in weight before the tournament, and was starved of runs during it.
Inzamam failed to improve on a score of six in the opening match against Australia and finished up with an average of 3.2 after ducks against England and Holland.
Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight (England)
Trescothick and Knight failed to sparkle for England
England's openers were disappointing individually - and even more so as a pair.
Their 66 against Australia was their only decent first-wicket partnership - and both averaged in the low 20s.
Knight's best knock came in the opening game against Holland while Trescothick's only half-century was against another giant of the game, Namibia.
Allan Donald (South Africa)
The man they call White Lightning saw his swansong for South Africa turn into a nightmare.
He took just one wicket in matches against the West Indies, New Zealand and Canada for the cost of 133 runs.
And the 36-year-old was dropped for the tied game against Sri Lanka which sealed South Africa's early exit.
Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
Expected to star on home soil, South Africa's pin-up boy failed to live up to his billing as the world's finest all-rounder.
He scored 63 runs in four innings with the bat and contributed just three wickets at an average of 64.3.
Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan)
Razzaq was below his best with bat and ball
Regarded as one of the classiest all-rounders in one-day cricket, Razzaq failed to shine with bat or ball.
He averaged just 19.8 in five innings - with 47 of his 99 runs coming against Holland - and took just one wicket at a cost of 119 runs.
Carl Hooper (West Indies)
The West Indies captain is considering his future after admitting both he and his team were not good enough.
Hooper averaged 19.8 from six innings - slightly better than out-of-form opener Wavell Hinds - and his spin claimed just three wickets at an average of 55.3.
Beaten by Canada and Kenya, lost four wickets in the first over against Sri Lanka and were gifted their only points of the tournament by the rain.
The less said about Bangladesh the better.