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The ICC Cricket World Cup, generally referred to as the Cricket World Cup, is the premier international championship of men's One-day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years. According to the ICC, it is the most important tournament and the pinnacle of achievement in the sport. The first Cricket World Cup contest was organised in England in 1975. A separate Women's Cricket World Cup has been held every four years since 1973.

The finals of the Cricket World Cup are contested by all ten Test-playing and ODI-playing nations, together with other national teams that qualify through the ICC Trophy competition. Australia has been the most successful of the five teams to have won the tournament, taking three titles. The West Indies have won twice, while India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once.

The most recent Cricket World Cup finals were held between 9 February and 24 March 2003, in Southern Africa. Australia defeated India in the final to remain world champions. The next tournament will be held in the West Indies in 2007, and will feature sixteen teams. The format of the finals differs from tournament to tournament. The next World Cup will consist of a pool stage (played in round robin format), then a "super 8" stage, followed by semi-finals and a final.

History

Before the first Cricket World Cup

The first cricket Test match was played in 1877 between Australia and England. The two teams competed regularly for The Ashes, with South Africa being 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, due to lack of public interest and poor weather. In the subsequent years, international Test cricket has been generally been organised as bilateral series: a multilateral Test tournament was not organised again until the quadrangular Asian Test Championship in 1999.

In the early 1960s, English county cricket teams began playing a shortened version of cricket which only lasted for one day. Starting in 1962 as a four-team knockout competition (known as the Midlands Knock-Out Cup), and Gillette Cup in 1963, one-day cricket grew in popularity, leading to the formation of the national Sunday League 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.

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 organising a Cricket World Cup.

Prudential World Cups

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. The first three tournaments were held in England and officially known as the Prudential Cup after the sponsors Prudential plc. The matches consisted of 60 six-ball overs per team, played during the daytime in traditional form, with the players wearing cricket whites using red cricket balls.

Eight teams participated in the first tournament: Australia, England, the West Indies, Pakistan, India, and New Zealand (the six Test nations at the time), together with Sri Lanka and a composite team from East Africa. One notable omission was the South African cricket team, 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. West Indies won a second consecutive World Cup tournament, defeating England by 92 runs in the final. At their 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 away from the stumps. Four fieldsmen needed to be inside it at all times. India, an outsider quoted at 66 to 1 before the competition began, were crowned champions after upsetting the West Indies by 43 runs in the final.

1987 – present

The 1987 tournament was held in India and Pakistan, the first time the competition has been held outside England. The games were reduced from 60 to 50 overs per innings, the current standard, because of the shorter daylight hours in the Indian subcontinent compared to England. Australia won the championship by defeating England by 7 runs in the final, the closest margin ever in World Cup final history.

The 1992 World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand, introduced many changes to the game, such as coloured clothing, white balls, day/night matches, and an alteration to the fielding restrictions. 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 to emerge as winners, defeating England by 22 runs in the final.

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, headed towards a crushing victory over India at Eden Gardens (Calcutta) after their hosts lost eight wickets while scoring 120 runs in pursuit of 254, were awarded victory by default after riots broke out in protest against the Indian performance. Sri Lanka went on to win their maiden championship by defeating Australia in the final by seven wickets, which was held in Lahore.

In 1999 the event returned to England, with some matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. Australia qualified for the final after reaching their target in their Super Six match against South Africa off the final over of the match and proceeded to the final after a tie in the semi-final (also against South Africa) in which a mix-up between South African batsmen Lance Klusener 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 reaching the target in less than 20 overs, 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, including wins against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and a forfeit by the New Zealand team, which refused to play in Kenya due to security reasons, enabled Kenya to reach the semi finals, where they lost to India. In the final, Australia made 359 runs for the loss of two wickets, the largest ever total in a final, to defeat India by 125 runs.

Format

Qualification

The Test-playing nations and ODI-playing nations qualify automatically for the the World Cup finals, while the other teams have to qualify through a series of preliminary qualifying tournaments.

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 of Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC more opportunities to qualify. In 2009, the name "ICC Trophy" will be changed to "ICC World Cup Qualifier".

Under the current qualifying process, the World Cricket League, all 87 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 tournaments 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 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.
3. Division Three: 8 Teams - Top 2 promoted to Division Two.
4. Division Two: 6 Teams - Top 4 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.
5. Division Five: 8 Teams - Top 2 promoted to Division Four.
6. Division Four: 5 Teams - Top 2 promoted to Division Three.
7. Division Three(second edition): 6 Teams - Top 2 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.
8. World Cup Qualifier: 12 Teams - Top 6 are awarded ODI status and qualify for the World Cup.

Tournament

See also: Historical formats of final 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. There competition comprised 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 the return of South Africa in 1992 after the ending 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" stage, with all six teams playing each other once. As they advanced, they would also carry their points forward from previous matches against the teams advancing alongside them, giving the teams 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 2007 World Cup will feature 16 teams allocated into four groups of four. Within each group, the teams will play each other in a round-robin format. Teams will earn points for wins and half-points for ties. The top two teams from each group, a total of eight, will move forward to the "Super 8" round. The "Super 8" teams will play the other six teams that progressed from different groups. Teams will earn points in the same way as the group stage, but will also bring points scored against the other team who qualified from the same group to the "Super 8" stage. The top four teams from the "Super 8" round will advance to the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals will compete in the final.

Trophy

The ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy is presented to the winners of the World Cup finals. 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 characterises a cricket ball. The trophy is designed with platonic dimensions, so that it can be easily recognised from any angle. 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 original trophy is kept by the ICC. A replica, which differs only in the inscriptions, is permanently awarded to the winning team.

Media coverage

The tournament is one of the world's largest and most viewed sporting events, being televised in over 200 countries to over two billion television viewers. Television rights, mainly for the 2011 and 2015 World Cup, were sold for over US$1.1 billion, and sponsorship rights were sold for a further US$500 million. The 2003 Cricket World Cup matches were attended by 626,845 people.

Successive World Cup tournaments have generated increasing media attention as One-day International cricket has become more established. The 2003 World Cup in South Africa was the first to sport a mascot, Dazzler the zebra. An orange mongoose known as Mello will be the mascot for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Selection of hosts

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 organising the inaugural event. India volunteered to host the third Cricket World Cup, but most ICC members believed England to be a more suitable venue because of 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 the first hosted outside England, held in India and Pakistan.

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. All the World Cup events have been held in nations in which cricket is a popular sport. With the exception of Bangladesh and the West Indies, every Test playing nation has hosted or co-hosted a Cricket World Cup at least once. Many of the tournaments have also been jointly hosted by nations from the same geographical region, such as South Asia in 1987 and 1996, Australasia in 1992, Southern Africa in 2003 and West Indies in 2007.

Summary

Results

Performance of teams

19 nations have qualified for the Cricket World Cup at least once (excluding qualification tournaments). Seven teams have competed in every finals tournament, of which five have won. The West Indies won the first two tournaments, Australia has won three, while India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once. The West Indies (1975 and 1979) and Australia (1999 and 2003) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. Australia has played in 5 of the 8 final matches (1975, 1987, 1996, 1999, 2003), including the finals in the three most recent tournaments. 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.

Sri Lanka, who co-hosted the 1996 Cricket World finals, is the only host to win the tournament. England is the only other host to have made the final, in 1979. Other countries which have achieved or equalled their best World Cup results while co-hosting the tournament are New Zealand, semi-finalists in 1992; Zimbabwe, reaching the Super Six in 2003; and Kenya, semi-finalists in 2003. In 1987, co-hosts India and Pakistan both reached the semi-finals, but were eliminated by Australia and England respectively.

The table below provides an overview of the performances of teams over various World Cups, including the imminent 2007 World Cup.

Team	Appearances				Best result	Statistics
	Total	Best Streak	First	Latest		Played	Won	Lost	Tie	NR
Australia	9	9	1975	2007	Champions (1987, 1999, 2003)	58	40	17	1	0
File:West Indies Cricket Board Flag.svg West Indies	9	9	1975	2007	Champions (1975, 1979)	48	31	16	0	1
India	9	9	1975	2007	Champions (1983)	55	31	23	0	1
Pakistan	9	9	1975	2007	Champions (1992)	53	29	22	0	2
Sri Lanka	9	9	1975	2007	Champions (1996)	46	17	27	1	1
England	9	9	1975	2007	Runners-up (1979, 1987, 1992)	50	31	18	0	1
New Zealand	9	9	1975	2007	Semifinals (1975, 1979, 1992, 1999)	52	28	23	0	1
Zimbabwe	7	7	1983	2007	Super Six (1999, 2003)	42	8	31	0	3
South Africa	5	5	1992	2007	Semifinals (1992, 1999)	30	19	9	2	0
Kenya	4	4	1996	2007	Semifinals (2003)	20	5	14	0	1
Bangladesh	3	3	1999	2007	Round 1	11	2	8	0	1
Canada	3	2	1979	2007	Round 1	9	1	8	0	0
Netherlands	3	2	1996	2007	Round 1	11	1	10	0	0
Scotland	2	1	1999	2007	Round 1	5	0	5	0	0
Bermuda	1	1	2007	2007	-	0	0	0	0	0
Ireland	1	1	2007	2007	-	0	0	0	0	0
Namibia	1	1	2003	2003	Round 1	6	0	6	0	0
United Arab Emirates	1	1	1996	1996	Round 1	5	1	4	0	0
File:East African Cricket Council.gif East Africa	1	1	1975	1975	Round 1	3	0	3	0	0

Awards

Since 1992, one player has been declared as "Man of the Tournament" at the end of the World Cup finals:

• 1992 — Martin Crowe - 456 runs
• 1996 — Sanath Jayasuriya - 221 runs (strike rate of 132) and 7 wickets
• 1999 — Lance Klusener - 281 runs (strike rate of 122) and 17 wickets
• 2003 — Sachin Tendulkar - 673 runs and 2 wickets

Previously, only Man of the Match awards were given in individual matches, although it was considered a particularly good achievement to be Man of the March in the final, as this generally indicated the player who played the biggest part in winning the World Cup final. The Man of the Match award in the final of the competition has been awarded to:

• 1975 — Clive Lloyd - 102 runs
• 1979 — Viv Richards - 138*
• 1983 — Mohinder Amarnath - 3/12 and 26
• 1987 — David Boon - 75 runs
• 1992 — Wasim Akram - 3 wickets
• 1996 — Aravinda de Silva - 107* and 3/42
• 1999 — Shane Warne - 4/33
• 2003 — Ricky Ponting - 140*
  

Records and statistics

World Cup records
Batting
Most runs	Sachin Tendulkar	1732
Highest average (min. 20 inns.)	File:West Indies Cricket Board Flag.svg Viv Richards	63.31
Most centuries	Sourav Ganguly Mark Waugh Sachin Tendulkar	4
Most 50+ scores	Sachin Tendulkar	16
Highest score	Gary Kirsten v UAE	188*
Highest partnership	Rahul Dravid & Sourav Ganguly (2nd wicket) v Sri Lanka	318
Most runs in a tournament	Sachin Tendulkar	673 (2003)
Bowling
Most wickets	Wasim Akram	55
Lowest average (min. 1000 balls bowled)	Imran Khan	19.26
Best bowling figures	Glenn McGrath v Namibia	7/15
Most wickets in a tournament	Chaminda Vaas	23 (2003)
Fielding
Most dismissals (wicketkeeper)	Adam Gilchrist	35
Most catches (fielder)	Ricky Ponting	18
Team
Highest score	Sri Lanka v Kenya	398/5
Lowest score	Canada v Sri Lanka	36
Highest winning margin (runs)	Australia v Namibia	256
Highest Win %	Australia	68.96%
Most consecutive wins	Australia	12* (1999–2003)

See also

• 2007 in cricket
• International cricket in 2006-07
• International cricket in 2007
• Twenty20 World Championship
• U/19 Cricket World Cup
• Women's Cricket World Cup

References

• Browning, Mark (1999). A complete history of World Cup Cricket. Kangaroo Press. ISBN 0-7318-0833-9.

Notes

1. International Cricket Council. "Cricket World Cup marketing overview". Cricket World Cup 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
2. International Cricket Council. "Cricket World Cup overview" (PDF). Cricket World Cup 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
3. ^ "Ruthless Aussies lift World Cup". bbc.co.uk. 2003-03-23. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
4. "1st Test Scorecard". cricinfo.com. 1877-03-15. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
5. "Olympic Games, 1900, Final". cricinfo.com. 1900-08-19. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
6. "The original damp squib". cricinfo.com. 2005-04-23. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
7. "The birth of the one-day game". cricinfo.com. 2005-04-30. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
8. "What is One-Day International cricket?". newicc.cricket.org. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
9. ^ "The World Cup - A brief history". cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
10. ^ "The History of World Cup's". cricworld.com. Retrieved 2006-09-19.
11. ^ "ICC Trophy - A brief history". cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
12. "Cricket World Cup 2003". A.Srinivas. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
13. "1996 Semi-final scoreboard". cricketfundas. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
14. "1999 Cricket World Cup". nrich.maths. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
15. "World Cricket League". ICC. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
16. "World Cup groups". cricket world cup. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
17. "About the Event" (PDF). cricketworldcup.com. p. 1. Retrieved 2006-09-02. Template:PDF
18. "Trophy is first permanent prize in game's history". cnnsi.com. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
19. "Cricket World Cup- Past Glimpses". webindia123.com. Retrieved 2006-08-30.
20. "cricket world cup trophy". mapsofworld.com. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
21. "World Cup Overview". cricketworldcp.com. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
22. Cricinfo staff (2006-12-09). "ICC rights for to ESPN-star". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
23. Cricinfo staff (2006-01-18). "ICC set to cash in on sponsorship rights". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
24. "Cricket World Cup 2003" (PDF). ICC. p. 12. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
25. "GuideLines for Media". cricketworldcp.com. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
26. "World Cup Cricket 1979". cricket.beepthi. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
27. "The 1979 World Cup in England - West Indies retain their title". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2006-09-19.
28. "Asia to host 2011 World Cup". Cricinfo. 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2007-02-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
29. ^ "Cricket World Cup Past Glimpses". webindia123.com. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
30. All records are based on statistics at Cricinfo.com's list of World Cup records

External links

• Official ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 website
• Cricinfo's Cricket World Cup 2007 website
• Cricket World Cup Fixtures

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• Cricket World Cup