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The first men's cricket World Cup was held in England in 1975, four
years after the first recognised one-day international had been played
in 1971, on the fifth day of a washed out test between Australia and
England in Melbourne.
In the world of men's ODI cricket, ICC World Cup is regarded as the premier tournament, witnessing participation as well as viewership from all across the globe. Its history dates back to the year 1975, when the inaugural tournament was played on England soil, with the participants being the six Test-playing nations at the time i.e. Australia, England, the West Indies, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan, along with Sri Lanka and a composite team from East Africa. The first three events of the competition were held in England and officially known as the Prudential Cup, after the sponsor - Prudential plc.
In the world of men's ODI cricket, ICC World Cup is regarded as the premier tournament, witnessing participation as well as viewership from all across the globe. Its history dates back to the year 1975, when the inaugural tournament was played on England soil, with the participants being the six Test-playing nations at the time i.e. Australia, England, the West Indies, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan, along with Sri Lanka and a composite team from East Africa. The first three events of the competition were held in England and officially known as the Prudential Cup, after the sponsor - Prudential plc.
1975, England
The first World Cup, A. K. A. the Prudential Cup Trophy, had matches of
60 overs per innings, with each over comprising of 6 balls. The
tournament comprised of daytime matches, played in the traditional form,
and was won by West Indies (who defeated Australia in the finals). The
Second World Cup saw the introduction of ICC Trophy, held for the
purpose of selecting non-Test playing teams for the World Cup. In the
first ICC Trophy, Sri Lanka and Canada emerged as the winners. However,
the World Cup went, once again, to the West Indies team, who won the
final match after defeating the hosts i.e. England.
Fine weather blessed the first global one-day tournament culminating in
an unforgettable final between West Indies and Australia at Lord's.
Striking the ball with relaxed brutality, West Indies' captain Clive
Lloyd tamed an attack headed by the pace and fury of Dennis Lillee and
Jeff Thomson to score 102 from 85 balls.
He was ably assisted by the 39-year-old Rohan Kanhai, a late
replacement for his injured contemporary Garfield Sobers. Kanhai
contributed 55 to West Indies' 291 for eight from their 60 overs.
Australia captain Ian Chappell led a spirited reply with 62 before he
fell victim to one of three runouts effected by the electric reflexes of
Viv Richards. Lillee and Thomson added 41 for the final wicket before
Australia were finally dismissed for 274 at twilight on the longest day
of the year.
1979, England
In a meeting following the Second ODI World Cup, the International
Cricket Conference decided to make the competition a quadrennial event
i.e. an event that would be held only once in four years.
Peace was brokered with Australian entrepreneur Kerry Packer, whose
rebel World Series had split world cricket, shortly before the second
World Cup. Australia still chose not to select any of the players who
had signed for Packer but West Indies did and a team who were to rule
world cricket throughout the next decade demolished England in the
final.
Richards, then the world's number one batsman, stroked an imperious 138
and Collis King struck a whirlwind 86. Although England captain Mike
Brearley and Geoff Boycott put on 129 for the first wicket, they took up
38 of the 60 overs. After their dismissals, the giant Joel Garner ran
through the middle order with a series of unplayable yorkers to take
five wickets in 11 balls and give his team victory by 92 runs.
1983, England
So, the next tournament was held in 1983, hosted by England and won by
the Indian team (after defeating the previous champions - West Indies -
in the final match). It was in this World Cup only that the fielding
circle was introduced, 30 yards (27 m) away from the stumps, in which
four fieldsmen had to be present at all times.
Richards seemed intent on winning the final against underdogs India on
his own after West Indies had been set a modest 184 to win. He struck
seven boundaries in his 33 from 28 balls before top-edging a hook which
India captain Kapil Dev, running away from the pitch towards the
boundary at mid-wicket, coolly collected.
West Indies imploded thereafter, with India recording a famous 43-run
victory which was to have profound implications at home where one-day
cricket quickly superseded the test game as the most popular form of the
sport.
1987, India and Pakistan
The fourth ICC Cricket World Cup was held in 1987, with India and
Pakistan playing the hosts. The tournament saw two new occurrences �
first, it was the first time that the matches were played outside
England and second, the overs were reduced from 60 to 50 per innings.
The Australian team won this time, defeating England by 7 runs in the
final (this is, till now, the closest margin in World Cup final
history).
England appeared to be cruising to victory in the final against
Australia at Kolkata's Eden Gardens when Mike Gatting tried a reverse
sweep off opposing captain Allan Border's first delivery and lobbed a
simple catch.
1992, Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand hosted the fifth World Cup, in which Pakistan
emerged as the winner, after defeating England. This tournament also
saw the introduction of colored clothing, white balls and day/night
matches, along with a change in the fielding restrictions.
Famously urged by their captain Imran Khan to "fight like cornered
tigers," Pakistan rebounded from imminent elimination in the opening
round to defeat England in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Imran, the greatest player to emerge from Pakistan, scored 72 batting at
number three in his final match for his country. He also took the final
wicket after his protege Wasim Akram had blown away Ian Botham, Allan
Lamb and Chris Lewis.
1996, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
The Indian subcontinent once again became the host of World Cup in
1996, when the matches were played in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The
final match was played in Lahore and saw Sri Lanka emerging as the
winner, defeating Australia by seven wickets.
Sri Lanka, with the explosive Sananth Jayasuriya at the top of the
order and Muttiah Muralitharan bewitching opposing batsmen with his
prodigious powers of spin, proved worthy champions.
The Sri Lankans had demonstrated before the tournament that they could
chase down totals previously thought beyond reach and they exploited the
fielding restrictions at the start of the innings by attacking from the
first ball.
Aravinda da Silva, their most accomplished batsman, scored an assured
unbeaten century in the seven-wicket win over Australia in the final in
Lahore.
1999, England & Wales, Ireland and Scotland
The next tournament was organized, once again, in England, with some
matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands.
The final match, played between Australia and Pakistan, saw the former
claiming its second win. Australia made no contest of the final against
Pakistan, taking barely 4-1/2 hours to overwhelm the 1992 champions.
Australia, the world's best test side, were in danger of elimination in
the group stages and again in the Super Six round where 120 not out
from captain Steve Waugh, dropped on 56 by Herschelle Gibbs, ensured
victory over South Africa.
Then, in a semi-final between the same teams, South Africa needed only
one run with four balls remaining in the final over with their best
one-day batsman Lance Klusner on strike. A panicky runout tied an epic
match which put Australia through by virtue by beating South Africa in
the previous round.
2003, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya
The eighth World Cup saw the number of participating teams increase to
fourteen, from twelve; Kenya's victories over Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe;
and forfeiture by New Zealand (because of security reasons). The feat
was repeated by Australia in the World Cup, held in 2003, when it beat
India by 125 runs.
Australia's new one-day captain Ricky Ponting struck eight sixes in his
140 not out in the final against India as his team scaled new heights
with a relentless 125-run victory. The Australians became the first team
to win three World Cups and took their unbeaten run in the tournament
to 16.
2007, West Indies
The ninth ODI World Cup was hosted by the West Indies. With this, it
became the first such tournament to be hosted on all six populated
continents. The competition saw a number of firsts. It was the first
time Bangladesh progressed to the 2nd round and it was the first time
Ireland played in the World Cup (and even went ahead to the main ODI
table). The tournament was won by Australia, registering its fourth win
(defeating Sri Lanka in the final match).
Adam Gilchrist bettered Ponting's record tally in a final with a
typically audacious 149. Two other Australian giants, Matthew Hayden and
Glenn McGrath, were the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker
respectively.
The tournament was overshadowed by the death of popular Pakistan coach
Bob Woolmer at the age of 58 in his hotel room in Jamaica after his team
had unexpectedly lost to Ireland. Police launched a murder
investigation which led nowhere and a jury later returned an open
verdict.
2011, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
The 10th ICC Cricket World Cup was hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and
Bangladesh. 2011 WC was won by India who defeated Sri Lanka by 6
wickets. India became the first nation to win a world cup final on home
soil.
Mahela Jayawardene scored an unbeaten 103 in Sri Lanka's challenging
274-6 but India recovered from a slow start to win by six wickets with
10 balls to spare with Gautam Gambhir making 97 and India's captain
Mahendra Singh Dhoni an unbeaten 91.
Pakistan were also selected as one of four co-hosts but were stripped
of their matches because of security fears following the attack on the
touring Sri Lankan team in 2009.
2015, Australia and New Zealand
The 2015 Cricket World Cup is the 11th Cricket World Cup, jointly
hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015.
Fourteen teams have played 49 matches in 14 venues. The final match of
the tournament took placeed at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between
co-hosts New Zealand and Australia with Australia winning by 7 wickets.
New Zealand opener Martin Guptil (547) was the highest run scorer in
the 2015 Cricket World Cup, while Australian seamer Mitchell Start Starc
(22) and New Zealand' pacer Trent Boult (22) leading wicket takers in
the tournament.
| S# | Year | Host(s) | Winner | Runner | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1975 | England | West Indies | Australia | 07-Jun to 21-Jun |
| 2. | 1979 | England | West Indies | England | 09-Jun to 23-Jun |
| 3. | 1983 | England | India | West Indies | 09-Jun to 25-Jun |
| 4. | 1987 | India, Pakistan | Australia | England | 08-Oct to 08-Nov |
| 5. | 1992 | Australia, New Zealand | Pakistan | England | 22-Feb to 25-Mar |
| 6. | 1996 | India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | Australia | 14-Feb to 17-Mar |
| 7. | 1999 | England, Scotland, Ireland | Australia | Pakistan | 14-May to 20-Jun |
| 8. | 2003 | South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya | Australia | India | 09-Feb to 23-Mar |
| 9. | 2007 | West Indies | Australia | Sri Lanka | 13-Mar to 28-Apr |
| 10. | 2011 | India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh | India | Sri Lanka | 10-Feb to 02-Apr- |
| 11. | 2015 | Australia, New Zealand | Australia | New Zealand | 14-Feb to 29-Mar |
| 12. | 2019 | England | TBD | TBD | 30-May to 15-Jul |
| 13. | 2023 | India | TBD | TBD | TBD |
