The history of the ICC Cricket World Cup (1975 to 2019)



The Cricket World Cup is a major cricket tournament held every four years later. The tournament is organized by the ICC (International Cricket Council). The World Cup is played between the ten Test-playing nations and the best-performing nations in the ICC Trophy. The last World Cup was played in 2019 in England and Wales. Australia is the most successful team to have won the title five times so far.  India and West Indies have won two titles of cricket world cup each, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have won the Cricket World Cup once.





The first cricket tournament was held in 1912 in which England, Australia, and South Africa participated. But it did not succeed. Later teams playing cricket increased, so did the quality of Test cricket and the popularity of cricket. Until 1960, the same style of cricket was played in which teams played each other for three, four, or five days.


In 1962 A new style of cricket is introduced which we know today as One Day Cricket.  Cricket was initially played between British county teams and became popular.  But this cricket started after a long time among other countries. During the Test match between England and Australia in 1971, no game was played for four days due to bad weather. Both the teams decided to play one inning of 40 overs in which each over consisted of eight balls. Which was quite liked. In view of the popularity of one-day cricket, the International Cricket Council has decided to hold competitions between the teams playing sub-cricket which is today known as the World Cricket Cup. A total of 12 editions of the World Cup have been played so far.

 

All 12 Editions Of Cricket World Cup



1) Cricket World Cup (1975 West Indies)

The first Cricket World Cup played between June 7 and 21, 1975, featured eight teams, including six teams with Test status, the West Indies, England, Pakistan, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, and South Africa.  Were  In the final of this tournament, the West Indies team led by Clive Lloyd defeated Australia by 17 runs.



2) Cricket World Cup (1979 West Indies)

The 2nd  Cricket World Cup was played in 1979 in England. The host of these competitions was once again England and in this tournament also eight teams participated like in the first World Cup.  However, the Australian team did not have its best players, while the South African team was replaced by the Canadian team this time. In this tournament as in the previous World Cups, every innings of the match consisted of 60 overs. These competitions also faced the lack of interest of the spectators and bad weather. Defending champions West Indies and hosts England competed in the final this time and thanks to Vivian Richards' brilliant century and Joel Garner's excellent bowling, West Indies successfully defended their title by winning the match by 22 runs.



3) Cricket World Cup (1983)

This Cricket World Cup was played in 1983.  Eight teams also took part in the tournament, including Sri Lanka with new Test status, as well as ICC Trophy winners Zimbabwe. The Indian team led by Kapil Dev performed well in this World Cup and surprised everyone by defeating the favorite West Indies in the final after defeating host England in the semi-finals.



4) Cricket World Cup (1987)

This Cricket World Cup was held outside England for the first time hosted by two countries India and Pakistan. For the first time in the subcontinent, the innings were reduced from 60 overs to 50 overs due to a lack of daylight hours. The two host countries India and Pakistan both reached the semi-finals of the cricket world, but both lost the semi-finals. Australia beat England in the final and won the world cup title.



5) Cricket World Cup (1992)

This edition of the cricket World Cup was played in 1992. For the first time in this tournament, colorful uniforms and white balls were used.  Pakistan defeated England in the final and won the world cup title for the first time in history. Nine countries participated in this World.



6) Cricket World Cup (1996)

The 1996 World Cup has once again been hosted by Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. This was the first time that the UAE, Kenya, and the Netherlands had the opportunity to participate in these competitions. In the final in Lahore, Arunda Deslova's 107 off 124 balls gave Sri Lanka a big victory against Australia and thus became the first host nation to win the tournament.



7) Cricket World Cup (1999)

The seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup was held in 1999.  This time the Cricket World Cup was held after three years instead of a four-year hiatus and was hosted by England again after 16 years. The tournament was played under a round-robin and knockout system and featured nine teams with Test and ODI status, as well as the winners of the ICC Trophy tournament, Bangladesh, Scotland, and Kenya. The tournament will be remembered for its semi-final when South Africa's Alan Donald failed to score a run in the match against Australia and was run out. The match was tied but Australia reached the final due to a better record where they defeated Pakistan after a one-sided contest and won the tournament for the second time.

 

8) Cricket World Cup (2003)

The 8th edition of the Cricket World Cup was held in 2003. The tournament was hosted by three countries including Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya. The tournament, which ran from February 9 to March 24, consisted of 14 teams divided into two groups who played in 44 matches. Australia played excellent cricket in this World Cup and once again reached the final of this tournament. In the final match, Ricky Ponting's smoky 140 runs crushed India and Australia became the first team to win the tournament for 3rd time.



9) Cricket World Cup (2007)

The ninth Cricket World Cup was held in 2007. The host of the World Cup(Australia) became the winner of the  World Cup. A total of 16 teams participated in the tournament which are divided into 4 groups, took part in the competition, ran from March 13 to April 28.  The 2 top teams from any group advanced to the Super 8, with New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and Sri Lanka reaching the semi-finals. New Zealand and South Africa, who failed to advance to the semi-finals of the World Cup in the past, could not advance beyond this stage again and the 2007 World Cup final match proved to be a replay of 1996 final in terms of teams. However, this time the result was reversed from the 1996 World Cup and Australia defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final at Kensington Oval on April 28 to win the tournament for the third time in a row and for the fourth time overall.



10) Cricket World Cup (2011)

The tournament was Played from Feb 12 to 2 April 2011. It was hosted by Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. But due to conditions, matches played in Pakistan were played to be in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India. A total of 14 countries participated in the tournament which was divided into 2 groups. In Group A Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada, and in Group B India, Bangladesh, South Africa, England, West Indies,  Ireland, the Netherlands participated in which four teams reached the quarter-finals, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand in Group A and India, South Africa, England, West Indies in Group B. In these, Pakistan defeated West Indies and made it to the semi-finals. In this competition, India defeated former champions Australia to advance to the second semi-final. Sri Lanka and India reached the final of the tournament. India won the world cup defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final.



11) Cricket World Cup (2015)

The 11th edition of the Cricket World Cup was hosted by 2 cricket nations New Zealand and Australia.  New Zealand qualified for the world cup final for the first time in history.  Australia won the world cup defeated New Zealand in the final.



12) Cricket World Cup (2019)

The 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup was played in 2019, with the first match taking place on May 30, and the series continued in England and Wales until July 14, 2019. England and New Zealand reached the final. England defeated New Zealand and became the World Cup champions for the first time.