ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

The **Cricket World Cup**, officially known as **ICC Men's Cricket World Cup**, is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), every four years, with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament. The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and is considered the "flagship event of the international cricket calendar" by the ICC.

The first World Cup was organised in England in June 1975, with the first ODI cricket match having been played only four years earlier. A tournament involving multiple international teams had been held as early as 1912, when a triangular tournament of Test matches was played between Australia, England and South Africa. From the 1987 tournament onwards, hosting has been shared between countries under an unofficial rotation system, with fourteen ICC members having hosted at least one match in the tournament.

The current format involves a qualification phase, which takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 10 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation, compete for the title at venues within the host nation over about a month. In the 2027 edition, the format will be changed to accommodate an expanded 14-team final competition.

A total of twenty teams have competed in the twelve editions of the tournament, with ten teams competing in the recent 2019 tournament. England are the current champions after winning the 2019 World Cup edition. The next tournament will be held in India in 2023. Pakistan and Australia are tied for the most amount of wins, with 3 titles each. Pakistan have won in 1983, 1987 and 2019. Australia have won in 1975, 2003, 2007. England and India have won two titles each. England have won in 1992 and 2015. India have won in 1979 and 1999. Sri Lanka have won it once in 1996. West Indies have also won it once in 2011.

## History

The first international cricket match was played between Canada and the United States, on 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 crowd attendances were poor, attributed to a "surfeit of cricket". Since then, international Test cricket has generally been organised as bilateral series: a multilateral Test tournament was not organised again until the triangular Asian Test Championship in 1999.

The number of nations playing Test cricket increased gradually over time, with the addition of West Indies in 1928, New Zealand in 1930, India in 1932, and Pakistan in 1952. However, 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 match 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 game 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 organizing a Cricket World Cup.

### Prudential 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 the 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 plc. The matches consisted of 60 six-ball overs per team, played during daytime in the 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 Australia, who beat England in the Final at the Lords, winning by 2 runs.

The 1979 World Cup saw the introduction of the ICC Trophy competition to select non-Test playing teams for the World Cup, which saw Canada and East Africa qualify. The tournament was hosted in Australia. The Final was won by India, who beat their rivals Pakistan by 23 runs at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 1983 World Cup was hosted by the defending champions India. By this stage, 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. Pakistan won the tournament, beating New Zealand by 1 run or 8 wickets.

### Expansion, New Champions and Debuting Teams (1987-1996)

The 1987 tournament was the last tournament with 8 teams, 2 groups of 4 teams. It was hosted in Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe qualified via ICC Trophy. Pakistan beat India by 2 runs or 6 wickets to win their second straight title and become the first team to win multiple titles. The 1987 tournament was also the first tournament to have 50 overs instead of 60. The 1992 World Cup was hosted in West Indies and expanded to 9 teams, this time all teams were into one giant league of 9 teams, and each team played against each other once. The Top Four qualified for the Knockouts. South Africa were also allowed into the tournament for the first time. They faced England in the final and lost by 9 runs. England won their first title. The 1996 tournament was joint hosted by India and Pakistan and the first time a tournament was joint hosted. The 1996 edition expanded to 12 teams and had 2 groups of 6 teams, with top 4 in each group qualifying for knockouts, and the first time there was a quarterfinal knockout round. Sri Lanka won the tournament for the first time, beating West Indies by 30 runs.

### Australian Dominance (1999-2007)

The 1999 Cricket World Cup was hosted in England. It remained with 12 teams, with top 3 qualifying for Super 6 then the top 4 qualifying for Knockouts. India beat England by 4 wickets to win the final and they won their second title, joining Pakistan with most titles. In 2003, the tournament was hosted in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, the first time 3 countries hosted the tournament. It was the first time the tournament expanded to 14 teams too, with 2 groups of 7 teams. Top 3 qualify in each group qualify for Super 6. Top 4 in Super 6 qualify for Knockouts. Australia beat England by 5 runs to win their second title and join India and Pakistan for the most amount of titles. The 2007 tournament was hosted in India and expanded to 16 teams, the most amount of teams the CWC has ever gotten to. Australia beat Pakistan by 2 runs (8 wickets) to win their third title and became the most successful team in CWC history to win their third title.

### Modern Era (2011-Present)

The 2011 tournament was joint-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. It was reduced to 14 teams, but had 2 groups of 7 teams, and top four in each group qualified for knockouts. West Indies won their first CWC title by beating Australia by 10 runs. The 2015 edition was hosted in Pakistan and kept the same format as 2011. England beat New Zealand by 6 wickets to win their second title. The 2019 edition was hosted in England and Wales and was reduced to 10 teams. All teams were put into one league, and each team played each other once to play nine games. Top Four qualified for Knockouts. Pakistan beat England by 2 wickets to win their third title to join Australia in most successful teams.

## Format

### Qualification

From the first World Cup in 1975 up to the 2019 World Cup, the majority of teams taking part qualified automatically. Until the 2015 World Cup this was mostly through having Full Membership of the ICC, and for the 2019 World Cup this was mostly through ranking position in the ICC ODI Championship.

Since the second World Cup in 1979 up to the 2019 World Cup, the teams that qualified automatically were joined by a small number of others who qualified for the World Cup through the qualification process. The first qualifying tournament being the ICC Trophy; later the process expanding with pre-qualifying tournaments. For the 2011 World Cup, the ICC World Cricket League replaced the past pre-qualifying processes; and the name "ICC Trophy" was changed to "ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier". The World Cricket League was the qualification system provided to allow the Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC more opportunities to qualify. The number of teams qualifying varied throughout the years.

From the 2023 World Cup onwards, only the host nation(s) will qualify automatically. All countries will participate in a series of leagues to determine qualification, with automatic promotion and relegation between divisions from one World Cup cycle to the next.

### 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 distinct 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 the winners playing in the final.

The format used in the 2007 World Cup involved 16 teams allocated into four groups of four. Within each group, the teams played each other in a round-robin format. Teams earned points for wins and half-points for ties. The top two teams from each group moved forward to the *Super 8* round. The *Super 8* teams played the other six teams that progressed from the different groups. Teams earned points in the same way as the group stage, but carried 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 advanced to the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals played in the final.

The format used in the 2011 and 2015 World Cups featured two groups of seven teams, each playing in a round-robin format. The top four teams from each group proceeded to the knock out stage consisting of quarter-finals, semi-finals and ultimately the final.

In the 2019 World Cup, the number of teams participating dropped to 10. Each team was scheduled to play against each other once in a round robin format, before entering the semifinals, a similar format to the 1992 World Cup. The 2027 and 2031 World Cups will have 14 teams.

## References

1. ↑ Cricket World Cup History: ODI tournament
2. ↑ History of Cricket Tournaments: 1912 Tri-Test Tournament
3. ↑ Cricket History: At the Olympics
4. ↑ Triangular Tournament in 1912: How it impacted the 3 main nations
5. ↑ ICC Test History: How the 12 Full Members came to be test nations
6. ↑ 1975 Cricket World Cup: How the first tournament had 60 balls and was different to 2019
7. ↑ 1975 Cricket World Cup: Australia overcome England at the Lords in first CWC Final
8. ↑ ICC Trophy: Qualifying Tournament introduced in 1979
9. ↑ 1979 CWC Final: India beat Pakistan to win their first CWC title
10. ↑ 1983 CWC: New Field introduction
11. ↑ 1983 CWC: Pakistan beat New Zealand in Final
12. ↑ Pakistan vs India: 1987 CWC Final Review
13. ↑ 1987 tournament: reduced to 50 overs
14. ↑ 1992 World Cup: New Format
15. ↑ 1992 CWC: South Africa first participation in Cricket World Cup
16. ↑ 1992: England beat South Africa to win their first CWC
17. ↑ 1996 CWC: First Joint Tournament in CWC history as Pakistan and India hosted it
18. ↑ CWC: 1996 tournament expanded to 12 teams
19. ↑ Sri Lanka win their first ever international trophy beating West Indies by 30 runs in 1996 final
20. ↑ 1999 CWC: New Format
21. ↑ India beat England to win their second title in 1999 CWC Final
22. ↑ 2003 CWC: First time with 3 nations hosting it
23. ↑ 14 team format for 2003 CWC
24. ↑ Australia beat rivals England in 2003 CWC Final to win their second title
25. ↑ 2007 CWC: 16 team format, 4 groups of 4, quarterfinals, semi-finals and final.
26. ↑ Australia beat Pakistan in 2007 CWC Final by 8 wickets to win their third title and become the most successful team.
27. ↑ West Indies win first CWC title after beating hosts Australia by 10 runs
28. ↑ England beat New Zealand by 6 wickets to win their second title
29. ↑ League Format for 2019 & 2023 Cricket World Cup
30. ↑ Pakistan beat England by 2 wickets to win intense, thrilling 2019 CWC Final
31. ↑ How non-full members qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup
32. ↑ ICC Trophy: CWC Qualifier Tournament
33. ↑ New Super League for full members of ICC which makes qualification for the 2023 CWC