CRICKET WORLD CUP HISTORY

CRICKET WORLD CUP HISTORY 

The first ever international cricket match was played between Canada and the United States, on the 24 and 25 September 1844. However, the first credited Test match was played in 1877 between Australia and England, and the two teams competed regularly for The Ashes in subsequent years. South Africa was admitted to Test status in 1889. Representative cricket teams were selected to tour each other, resulting in bilateral competition. Cricket was also included as an Olympic sport at the 1900 Paris Games, where Great Britain defeated France to win the gold medal. This was the only appearance of cricket at the Summer Olympics.

The first multilateral competition at international level was the 1912 Triangular Tournament, a Test cricket tournament played in England between all three Test-playing nations at the time: England, Australia and South Africa. The event was not a success: the summer was exceptionally wet, making play difficult on damp uncovered pitches, and attendances were poor, attributed to a "surfeit of cricket”. In subsequent years, international Test cricket has generally been organized as bilateral series: a multilateral Test tournament was not organized again until the quadrangular Asian Test Championship in 1999.

The number of nations playing Test cricket increased gradually over the years, with the addition of West Indies in 1928, New Zealand in 1930,India in 1932, and Pakistan in 1952, but international cricket continued to be played as bilateral Test matches over three, four or five days.

In the early 1960s, English county cricket teams began playing a shortened version of cricket which only lasted for one day. Starting in 1962 with a four-team knockout competition known as the Midlands Knock-Out Cup, and continuing with the inaugural Gillette Cup in 1963, one-day cricket grew in popularity in England. A national Sunday League was formed in 1969. The first One-Day International event was played on the fifth day of a rain-aborted Test match between England and Australia at Melbourne in 1971, to fill the time available and as compensation for the frustrated crowd. It was a forty over match with eight balls per over.

In the late 1970s, Kerry Packer established the rival World Series Cricket (WSC) competition. It introduced many of the features of One Day International that are now commonplace, including colored uniforms, matches played at night under floodlights with a white ball and dark sight screens, and, for television broadcasts, multiple camera angles, effects microphones to capture sounds from the players on the pitch, and on-screen graphics. The first of the matches with colored uniforms was the WSC Australians in wattle gold versus WSC West Indians in coral pink, played at VFL Park in Melbourne on 17 January 1979. The success and popularity of the domestic one-day competitions in England and other parts of the world, as well as the early One-Day Internationals, prompted the ICC to consider organizing a Cricket World Cup.

World Cups (1975–1983)

The inaugural Cricket World Cup was hosted in 1975 by England, the only nation able to put forward the resources to stage an event of such magnitude at that time. The 1975 tournament started on 7 June. The first three events were held in England and officially known as the Prudential Cup after the sponsors Prudential. The matches consisted of 60 six-ball over’s per team, played during the daytime in traditional form, with the players wearing cricket whites and using red cricket balls.

Eight teams participated in the first tournament: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the West Indies (the six Test nations at the time), together with Sri Lanka and a composite team from East Africa. One notable omission was South Africa, who were banned from international cricket due to apartheid. The tournament was won by the West Indies, who defeated Australia by 17 runs in the final at Lord’s.

The 1979 World Cup saw the introduction of the ICC Trophy competition to select non-Test playing teams for the World Cup with Sri Lanka and Canada qualifying. The West Indies won a second consecutive World Cup tournament, defeating the hosts, England, by 92 runs in the final At a meeting which followed the World Cup, the International Cricket Conference agreed to make the competition a quadrennial event.

The 1983 event was hosted by England for a third consecutive time. By this time, Sri Lanka had become a Test-playing nation, and Zimbabwe qualified through the ICC Trophy. A fielding circle was introduced, 30 yards (27 m) away from the stumps. Four fieldsmen needed to be inside it at all times. In this tournament teams faced each other twice, before moving into the knock-outs. India, an outsider quoted at 66–1 to win by bookmakers before the competition began, were crowned champions after upsetting the West Indies by 43 runs in the final

World Cups (1987–1996)

India and Pakistan jointly hosted the 1987 tournament, the first time that the competition was held outside England. The games were reduced from 60 to 50 over’s per innings, the current standard, because of the shorter daylight hours in the Indian subcontinent compared with England's summer. Australia won the championship by defeating England by 7 runs in the final, the closest margin in World Cup final history.

The 1992 World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand, introduced many changes to the game, such as colored clothing, white balls, day/night matches, and a change to the fielding restriction rules. The South African cricket team participated in the event for the first time, following the fall of the apartheid regime and the end of the international sports boycott Pakistan overcame a dismal start in the tournament to eventually defeat England by 22 runs in the final and emerge as winners.

The 1996 championship was held in the Indian subcontinent for a second time, with the inclusion of Sri Lanka as host for some of its group stage matches. In the semi-final, Sri Lanka, heading towards a crushing victory over India at Eden Gardens after the hosts lost eight wickets while scoring 120 runs in pursuit of 252, were awarded victory by default after crowd unrest broke out in protest against the Indian performance. Sri Lanka went on to win their maiden championship by defeating Australia by seven wickets in the final in Lahore.

World Cups (1999-2007)

In 1999 the event was hosted by England, with some matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands. The nine full members contested the World Cup along with three associate members: Kenya, and for the first time, Bangladesh and Scotland who qualified through the ICC Trophy. Australia qualified for the semi-finals after reaching their target in their Super 6 match against South Africa off the final over of the match. They then proceeded to the final with a tied match in the semi-final also against South Africa where a mix-up between South African batsmen Lance Klaussner and Allan Donald saw Donald drop his bat and stranded mid-pitch to be run out. In the final, Australia dismissed Pakistan for 132 and then reached the target in less than 20 over’s and with eight wickets in hand.

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya hosted the 2003 World Cup. The number of teams participating in the event increased from twelve to fourteen. Kenya's victories over Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, among others – and a forfeit by the New Zealand team, which refused to play in Kenya because of security concerns – enabled Kenya to reach the semi-finals, the best result by an associate. In the final, Australia made 359 runs for the loss of two wickets, the largest ever total in a final, defeating India by 125 runs.

In 2007 the tournament was hosted by the West Indies and expanded to sixteen teams. Following Pakistan's upset loss to World Cup debutants Ireland in the group stage, Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room. Jamaican police had initially launched a murder investigation into Woolmer's death but later confirmed that he died of heart failure. Australia defeated Sri Lanka in the final by 53 runs (D/L) in farcical light conditions, and extended their undefeated run in the World Cup to 29 matches and winning three straight championships

World Cup 2011

The 2011 Cricket World Cup was jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistan were stripped of their hosting rights following theterrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, with the games originally scheduled for Pakistan redistributed to the other host countries. The number of teams participating in the World Cup dropped down to fourteen. India won their second World Cup title by beating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final in Mumbai, and became the first country to win the final on home soil. India’s Yuvraj Singh was named man of the tournament.

Format

The Test-playing nations qualify automatically for the World Cup main event, while the other teams have to qualify through a series of preliminary qualifying tournaments. The One Day International playing nations automatically enter the final qualification tournament, the World Cup Qualifier, along with other nations who have qualified through separate competitions.

Qualifying tournaments were introduced for the second World Cup, where two of the eight places in the finals were awarded to the leading teams in the ICC Trophy. The number of teams selected through the ICC Trophy has varied throughout the years; currently, six teams are selected for the Cricket World Cup. The World Cricket League (administered by the International Cricket Council) is the qualification system provided to allow the Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC more opportunities to qualify. The name "ICC Trophy" has been changed to "ICC World Cup Qualifier".

Under the current qualifying process, the World Cricket League, all 91 Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC are able to qualify for the World Cup. Associate and Affiliate members must play between two and five stages in the ICC World Cricket League to qualify for the World Cup finals, depending on the Division in which they start the qualifying process.

Process summary in chronological order:

1.     Regional tournaments: Top teams from each regional tournament will be promoted to a division depending on the teams' rankings according to the ICC and each division's empty spots.

2.     Division One: 6 Teams – All automatically qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.

3.     Division Two: 6 Teams – Top 4 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.

4.     Division Three: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Two.

5.     Division Four: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Three.

6.     Division Five: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Four.

7.     Division Three (second edition): 6 Teams – Top 2 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.

8.     ICC World Cup Qualifier: 12 Teams – Top 6 are awarded ODI status and Top 4 qualifies for the World Cup.

Tournament

The format of the Cricket World Cup has changed greatly over the course of its history. Each of the first four tournaments was played by eight teams, divided into two groups of four. The competition consisted of two stages, a group stage and a knock-out stage. The four teams in each group played each other in the round-robin group stage, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals played against each other in the final. With South Africa returning in the fifth tournament in 1992 as a result of the end of the apartheid boycott, nine teams played each other once in the group phase, and the top four teams progressed to the semi-finals. The tournament was further expanded in 1996, with two groups of six teams. The top four teams from each group progressed to quarter-finals and semi-finals.

A new format was used for the 1999 and 2003 World Cups. The teams were split into two pools, with the top three teams in each pool advancing to the Super 6.The "Super 6" teams played the three other teams that advanced from the other group. As they advanced, the teams carried their points forward from previous matches against other teams advancing alongside them, giving them an incentive to perform well in the group stages. The top four teams from the "Super 6" stage progressed to the semi-finals, with winners playing in the final.

The format used in the 2007 World Cup features 16 teams allocated into four groups of four. Within each group, the teams play each other in a round-robin format. Teams earn points for wins and half-points for ties. The top two teams from each group move forward to the Super 8round. The "Super 8" teams play the other six teams that progressed from the different groups. Teams earned points in the same way as the group stage, but carrying their points forward from previous matches against the other teams who qualified from the same group to the "Super 8" stage. The top four teams from the "Super 8" round advance to the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals play in the final.

The current format used in the 2011 World Cup features 2 groups of 7 teams, each playing in a round-robin format. The top four teams from each group proceed to the knock out stage consisting of quarter-finals, semi-finals and ultimately the final.

Trophy

The ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy is presented to the winners of the World Cup. The current trophy was created for the 1999 championships, and was the first permanent prize in the tournament's history. Prior to this, different trophies were made for each World Cup. The trophy was designed and produced in London by a team of craftsmen from Garrard & Co over a period of two months.

The current trophy is made from silver and gild, and features a golden globe held up by three silver columns. The columns, shaped as stumps and bails, represent the three fundamental aspects of cricket: batting, bowling and fielding, while the globe characterizes a cricket ball. It stands 60 cm high and weighs approximately 11 kilograms. The names of the previous winners are engraved on the base of the trophy, with space for a total of twenty inscriptions. The ICC keeps the original trophy. A replica differing only in the inscriptions is permanently awarded to the winning team.

Selection of hosts

The International Cricket Council's executive committee votes for the hosts of the tournament after examining the bids made by the nations keen to hold a Cricket World Cup.

England hosted the first three competitions. The ICC decided that England should host the first tournament because it was ready to devote the resources required to organizing the inaugural event. India volunteered to host the third Cricket World Cup, but most ICC members preferred England as the longer period of daylight in England in June meant that a match could be completed in one day. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was held in Pakistan and India, the first hosted outside England.

Many of the tournaments have been jointly hosted by nations from the same geographical region, such as South Asia in 1987, 1996 and 2011, Australasia in 1992, Southern Africa in 2003 and West Indies in 2007.

Tournament history

Year	Host Nation(s)	Final Venue	Final
			Winner	Result	Runner-up
1975	England	Lord's, London, England	West Indies 291/8 (60 over’s)	West Indies won by 17 runs	Australia 274 all out (58.4 over’s)
1979	England	Lord's, London, England	West Indies 286/9 (60 over’s)	West Indies won by 92 runs	England 194 all out (51 over’s)
1983	England, Wales	Lord's, London, England	India 183 all out (54.4 over’s)	India won by 43 runs	West Indies 140 all out (52 over’s)
1987	India, Pakistan	Eden Gardens, Calcutta, India	Australia 253/5 (50 over’s)	Australia won by 7 runs	England 246/8 (50 over’s)
1992	Australia, New Zealand	MCG, Melbourne, Australia	Pakistan 249/6 (50 over’s)	Pakistan won by 22 runs	England 227 all out (49.2 over’s)
1996	Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan	Sri Lanka 245/3 (46.2 over’s)	Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets	Australia 241/7 (50 over’s)
1999	England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands	Lord's, London, England	Australia 133/2 (20.1 over’s)	Australia won by 8 wickets	Pakistan 132 all out (39 over’s)
2003	South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya	Wanderers, Johannesburg, South Africa	Australia 359/2 (50 over’s)	Australia won by 125 runs	India 234 all out (39.2 over’s)
2007	West Indies	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados	Australia 281/4 (38 over’s)	Australia won by 53 runs (D/L)	Sri Lanka 215/8 (36 over’s)
2011	India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India	India 277/4 (48.2 over’s)	India won by 6 wickets	Sri Lanka 274/6 (50 over’s)
2015	Australia, New Zealand	MCG, Melbourne, Australia
2019	England, Wales
2023	India

 

Teams Performance

Twenty nations have qualified for the finals of the Cricket World Cup at least once (excluding qualification tournaments). Seven teams have competed in every finals tournament, five of which have won the title. The West Indies won the first two tournaments, Australia has won four, India has won two, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once. The West Indies (1975 and 1979) and Australia (1999, 2003 and2007) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. Australia has played in 6 of the 10 final matches (1975, 1987, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007). England has yet to win the World Cup, but has been runners-up three times (1979, 1987, 1992). The best result by a non-Test playing nation is the semi-final appearance by Kenya in the 2003 tournament; while the best result by a non-Test playing team on their debut is the Super 8 (second round) by Ireland in 2007.

Sri Lanka, who co-hosted the 1996 Cricket World Cup, was the first host to win the tournament, though the final was held in Pakistan. India won the 2011 as host and was the first team to win in a final played in their own country. England is the only other host to have made the final, in 1979. Other countries which have achieved or equaled their best World Cup results while co-hosting the tournament are New Zealand as semi-finalists in 1992; Zimbabwe who reached the Super Six in 2003; and Kenya as semi-finalists in 2003. In 1987, co-hosts India and Pakistan both reached the semi-finals, but were eliminated by Australia and England respectively. Australia in 1992, England in 1999, South Africa in 2003, and Bangladesh in 2011 have been the host teams that were eliminated in the first round

Debutant teams

Year	Teams
1975	Australia,  East Africa†, England,  India,  New Zealand,  Pakistan,  Sri Lanka,  West Indies
1979	Canada
1983	Zimbabwe
1987	none
1992	South Africa
1996	Kenya,  Netherlands,  United Arab Emirates
1999	Bangladesh,  Scotland
2003	Namibia
2007	Bermuda,  Ireland
2011	none
2015	Afghanistan

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