World Cup | Cricket Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Share The ICC 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. The tournament is the world's fourth-largest and fourth-most-viewed sporting event. 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 nations that qualify through the World Cup Qualifier. Australia has been the most successful of the five teams to have won the tournament, taking four titles. The West Indies and India have won twice, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once.

Before the first Cricket World Cup The first ever international cricket match was played between Canada and the United States, on the 24 and 25 September 1844.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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".[9] In subsequent years, international Test cricket has generally been organised as bilateral series: a multilateral Test tournament was not organised 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,[10] 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.[11] In the late 1970s, Kerry Packer established the rival World Series Cricket (WSC) competition, and it introduced many of the features of One Day International cricket that are now commonplace, including coloured 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 coloured 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 organising a Cricket World Cup.[12] [edit]Prudential World Cups The Prudential Cup trophy 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.[13] 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 the daytime in traditional form, with the players wearing cricket whites and using red cricket balls.[14] 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.[15] 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.[15] The 1979 World Cup saw the introduction of the ICC Trophy competition to select non-Test playing teams for the World Cup,[16] with Sri Lanka and Canada qualifying.[17] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[12][19] [edit]1987–1996 The 1987 tournament, named the Reliance World Cup after their Indian sponsors, was held in India and Pakistan, the first time that the competition was 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 with England's summer.[20] Australia won the championship by defeating England by 7 runs in the final, the closest margin in World Cup final history.[21][22] 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.[23] Pakistan overcame a dismal start to emerge as winners, defeating England by 22 runs in the final and therefore winning the first white-ball world cup.[24] 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.[25] In the semi-final, Sri Lanka, heading 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 crowd unrest broke out in protest against the Indian performance.[26] Sri Lanka went on to win their maiden championship by defeating Australia by seven wickets in the final, which was held in Lahore.[27] [edit]Australian treble In 1999 the event was hosted by England, with some matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands.[28][29] 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.[30] 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 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 reached the target in less than 20 overs, with eight wickets in hand.[31] A large crowd of over 10,000 fans welcome the Australian team on completing the first World Cup hat-trick – Martin Place, Sydney. 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.[32][33] In 2007 the tournament was hosted by the West Indies; the Cricket World Cup became the first such tournament to be hosted on all six populated continents.[34] Bangladesh progressed to the second round for the first time, after defeating India, and they later went on to defeat South Africa in the second round.[35] Ireland making their World Cup debut tied with Zimbabwe and defeated Pakistan to progress to the second round, where they went on to defeat Bangladesh to get promoted to the main ODI table.[36] Following their defeat to Ireland, the Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room; it was later found out that he died of heart failure,[37] though his death may not have been a direct result of the match's outcome.

Australia defeated Sri Lanka in the final by 53 runs (D/L), in farcical light conditions, extending their undefeated run in the World Cup to 29 matches and winning three straight World Cups.[38] [edit]2011 Main article: 2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 Cricket World Cup was jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Pakistan were stripped of their hosting rights following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, with the games originally scheduled for Pakistan redistributed to the other host countries. The 2011 World Cup was the tenth edition of the tournament. Fourteen teams participated, split into two pools of seven teams each. The top four teams from each group qualified for the quarter-finals. India won their second World Cup title by beating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final in Mumbai, thus becoming the first country to win the Cricket World Cup final on home soil.India's Yuvraj Singh was declared the man of the tournament. This is first time in World cup history that two Asian teams appeared in final. This was also the first time since 1992 World Cup that the final match did not feature Australia.

India and Sri Lanka between them have made it to the finals of all World Cup tournaments in this millennium [39] [edit]Future Main articles: 2015 Cricket World Cup and 2019 Cricket World Cup The next World Cups will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015, and England and Wales in 2019. [edit]Format [edit]Qualification Main article: Cricket World Cup qualification 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.[16] 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".[40] 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: 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. Division One: 6 Teams – All automatically qualify for the World Cup Qualifier. Division Three: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Two. Division Two: 6 Teams – Top 4 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier. Division Five: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Four. Division Four: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Three.

Division Three (second edition): 6 Teams – Top 2 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier. World Cup Qualifier: 12 Teams – Top 6 are awarded ODI status and Top 4 qualify for the World Cup. [edit]Tournament See also: History of the Cricket World Cup#Historical formats of final tournament The captains of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. 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.[41] 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.[42] The tournament was further expanded in 1996, with two groups of six teams.[43] 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.[44] 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.[44] The top four teams from the "Super 6" stage progressed to the semi-finals, with winners playing in the final. The last format used in the 2007 World Cup, features 16 teams allocated into four groups of four.[45] 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 8 round. 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.[46] 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, approved by ICC to be used in 2011 World Cup, features 14 teams allocated. Within each group, the teams will play in a round-robin format. The top four teams from each group will proceed to the knock out stage playing quarter-finals. Winners of the quarter-finals will play semi-finals and the winning semi-finalists will play in the final. [edit]Trophy Main article: Cricket World Cup 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.[47] 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.[48] 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.

[edit]Media coverage Mello The tournament is the world's third largest (with only the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics exceeding it), being televised in over 200 countries to over 2.2 billion television viewers.[1][2][49][50] Television rights, mainly for the 2011 and 2015 World Cup, were sold for over US$1.1 billion,[51] and sponsorship rights were sold for a further US$500 million.[52] The 2003 Cricket World Cup matches were attended by 626,845 people,[53] while the 2007 Cricket World Cup sold more than 672,000 tickets.[54][55] 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 raccoon-like creature known as Mello was the mascot for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Stumpy, a blue elephant was the mascot for the 2011 World Cup.[56] [edit]Selection of hosts Civic Centre, South Africa honours the 2003 World Cup. Main article: Cricket World Cup 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.[57] 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.[13] India volunteered to host the third Cricket World Cup, but most ICC members believed England to be a more suitable venue because the longer period of daylight in England in June[58] meant that a match could be completed in one day.[59] The 1987 Cricket World Cup was the first hosted outside England, held in Pakistan and India.

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. [edit]Tournament history Main article: List of ICC Cricket World Cup finals [edit]Performances by teams Map of each nation's best results Nineteen 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.[12] The West Indies won the first two tournaments, and 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 and 2007) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles.[12] 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.[12] 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.[12] India won the 2011 as host and was the first team to win in a final played in their own country.[60] 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.[12] In 1987, co-hosts India and Pakistan both reached the semi-finals, but were eliminated by Australia and England respectively.[12] [edit]Entrants Year Number of teams 1975 8 1979 8 1983 8 1987 

8 1992 9 1996 12 1999 12 2003 14 2007 16 2011 14 2015 14 2019 10 [edit]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 †No longer exists.

[edit]Overview The table below provides an overview of the performances of teams over past World Cups, as of the end of the 2011 tournament. Teams are sorted by best performance, then total number of wins, then total number of games, then by alphabetical order.

Team Appearances Best result Statistics Total First Latest Played Won Lost Tie NR Win% Australia 10 1975 2011 Champions (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007) 76 55 19 1 1 72.36 India 10 1975 2011 Champions (1983, 2011) 67 39 26 1 1 58.20 West Indies 10 1975 2011 Champions (1975, 1979) 64 38 25 0 1 59.37 Pakistan 10 1975 2011 Champions (1992) 64 36 26 0 2 56.25 Sri Lanka 10 1975 2011 Champions (1996) 66 31 31 1 2 46.96 England 10 19

75 2011 Runners-up (1979, 1987, 1992) 66 39 25 1 1 59.09 New Zealand 10 1975 2011 Semifinals (1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007, 2011) 70 40 29 0 1 57.14 South Africa 6 1992 2011 Semifinals (1992, 1999, 2007) 47 31 14 2 0 65.95 Kenya 5 1996 2011 Semifinals (2003) 29 6 22 0 1 20.68 Zimbabwe 8 1983 2011 Super Six (1999, 2003) 51 10 37 1 3 1

9.60 Bangladesh 4 1999 2011 Super 8 (2007) 26 8 17 0 1 30.76 Ireland 2 2007 2011 Super 8 (2007) 15 4 10 1 0 26.66 Canada 4 1979 2011 Group Stage 18 2 16 0 0 11.11 Netherlands 4 1996 2011 Group Stage 20 2 18 0 0 10.00 United Arab Emirates 1 1996 1996 Group Stage 5 1 4 0 0 20.00 Bermuda 1 2007 2007 Group Stage 3 0 3 0 0 0.00 Namibia 1 2003 2003 Group Stage 6 0 6 0 0 0.00 Scotland 2 1999 200

7 Group Stage 8 0 8 0 0 0.00 East Africa† 1 1975 1975 Group Stage 3 0 3 0 0 0.00 †No longer exists.

[edit]Teams' performances Comprehensive teams' performances of over the past World Cups: Team 1975 1979 1983 1987 1992 1996 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Australia 2nd R1 R1 1st R1 2nd 1st 1st 1st QF Q Bangladesh R1 R1 S8 R1 Q Bermuda R1 Canada R1 R1 R1 R1 East Africa† R1 England SF 2nd SF 2nd 2nd QF R1 R1 S8 QF Q India R1 R1 1st SF R1 SF S6 2nd R1 1st Q Ireland S8 R1 Kenya R1 R1 SF R1 R1 Namibia R1 Netherlands R1 R1 R1 R1 New Zealand SF SF R1 R1 SF QF SF S6 SF SF Q Pakistan R1 SF SF SF 1st QF 2nd R1 R1 SF Q Scotland R1 R1 South Africa SF QF SF R

1 SF QF Q Sri Lanka R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 1st R1 SF 2nd 2nd Q United Arab Emirates R1 West Indies 1st 1st 2nd R1 R1 SF R1 R1 S8 QF Q Zimbabwe R1 R1 R1 R1 S6 S6 R1 R1 Q †No longer exists.

Prior to the 1992 World Cup, South Africa was banned due to apartheid.

[edit]Legend 1st- Winner 2nd- Runner up SF – Semi-final S8 – Super Eight (2007 only) S6 – Super Six (1999–2003) QF – Quarter-finals (1996 & 2011) R1 – First round [edit]Awards [edit]Man of the tournament Main article: Cricket World Cup awards Since 1992, one player has been declared as "Man of the Tournament" at the end of the World Cup finals:[61] Year Player Performance details 1992 Martin Crowe 456 runs 1996 Sanath Jayasuriya 221 runs and 7 wickets 1999 Lance Klusener 281 runs and 17 wickets 2003 Sachin Tendulkar 673 runs and 2 wickets 2007 Glenn McGrath 26 wickets 2011 Yuvraj Singh 362 runs and 15 wickets [edit]Man of the Match in the World Cup Final Previously, there was no tournament award, although Man of the Match

 awards have always been given for individual matches.

Winning the Man of the Match in the final is logically noteworthy, as this indicates the player deemed to have played the biggest part in the World Cup final. To date the award has always gone to a member of the winning side.

The Man of the Match award in the final of the competition has been awarded to:[61] Year Player Performance details 1975 Clive Lloyd 102 runs 1979 Viv Richards 138* 1983 Mohinder Amarnath 3/12 and 26 1987 David Boon 75 runs 1992 Wasim Akram 33 and 3/49 1996 Aravinda de Silva 107* and 3/42 1999 Shane Warne 4/33 2003 Ricky Ponting 140* 2007 Adam Gilchrist 149 2011 Mahendra Singh Dhoni 91* [edit]Tournament records [edit]Main individual and team records Main article: List of Cricket World Cup records Sachin Tendulkar, the leading run-scorer in World Cup history. World Cup records[62] Batting Most runs Sachin Tendulkar 2278 (1992–2011) Highest average (min.

20 inns.) Viv Richards 63.31 (1975–1987) Highest score Gary Kirsten v UAE 188* (1996) Highest partnership Sourav Ganguly & Rahul Dravid (2nd wicket) v Sri Lanka 318 (1999) Most runs in a tournament Sachin Tendulkar 673 (2003) Bowling Most wickets Glenn McGrath 71 (1996–2007) Lowest average (min.

1000 balls bowled) Glenn McGrath 19.21 (1996–2007) Best bowling figures Glenn McGrath v Namibia 7/15 (2003) Most wickets in a tournament Glenn McGrath 26 (2007) Fielding Most dismissals (wicket-keeper) Adam Gilchrist 39 (1999–2007) Most catches (fielder) Ricky Ponting 28 (1996–2011) Team Highest score India v Bermuda 413/5 (2007) Lowest score Canada v Sri Lanka 36 (2003) Highest win % Australia 74% (Played 76, Won 55) Most consecutive wins Australia 26 (1999–2011) Most consecutive tournament wins Australia 3 (1999–2007)[63] Test cricket - 必应 Sign in Test cricket In 2009, Ireland stated its intention to apply for Full Membership of the ICC with the aim of achieving Test status, and restated its intention in 2012

, but the 2012 plan aims to achieve Test status by 2020,.

In 2014, the ICC announced the introduction of the ICC Test Challenge, which will see the holder of the Intercontinental Cup play a pair of two five-day match series against the lowest ranked test-playing nation every four years, starting in 2018. Test cricket Test status Test matches are the highest level of cricket although, statistically, their data forms part of first-class cricket. Matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council. As of December 2014, ten national teams have Test status, the most recently promoted being Bangladesh in 2000. Zimbabwe's Test status was voluntarily suspended, because of poor performances between 2006 and 2011; it returned to competition in August 2011. In January 2014, during the historic ICC meeting in Dubai, the pathway for new potential test nations was laid out with the winners of the next round of the ICC Intercontinental Cup playing a 5-day match against the bottom rank test nation. If the Associate team defeats the test nation, then they could be added as the new test country and be given full membership.

A list of matches, defined as "Tests", was first drawn up by Australian Clarence Moody in the mid-1890s. Representative matches played by simultaneous England touring sides of 1891–92 (in Australia and South Africa) and 1929–30 (in the West Indies and New Zealand) are deemed to have "Test status". In 1970, a series of five "Test matches" was played in England between England and a Rest of the World XI. These matches, originally scheduled between England and South Africa, were amended after South Africa was suspended from international cricket because of their government's policy of apartheid. Although initially given Test status (and included as Test matches in some record books, including Wisden Cricketers' Almanack), this was later withdrawn and a principle was established that official Test matches can only be between nations (although the geographically and demographically small countries of the West Indies have since 1928 been permitted to field a coalition side). Despite this, in 2005, the ICC ruled that the six-day Super Series match that took place in October 2005, between Australia and a World XI, was an official Test match.

Some cricket writers and statisticians, including Bill Frindall, ignored the ICC's ruling and excluded the 2005 match from their records. The series of "Test matches" played in Australia between Australia and a World XI in 1971/72 do not have Test status. The commercial "Supertests" organised by Kerry Packer as part of his World Series Cricket enterprise and played between "WSC Australia", "WSC World XI" and "WSC West Indies" from 1977 to 1979 have never been regarded as official Test matches. Test cricket playing teams There are currently ten Test-playing teams, representing individual nations except for England and the West Indies. Test status is conferred upon a country or group of countries by the International Cricket Council. Teams that do not have Test status can play in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, specifically designed to allow non-Test teams to play under conditions similar to Tests.

The teams are listed below with the date of each team's Test debut: In 2009, Ireland stated its intention to apply for Full Membership of the ICC with the aim of achieving Test status, and restated its intention in 2012, but the 2012 plan aims to achieve Test status by 2020,. In 2014, the ICC announced the introduction of the ICC Test Challenge, which will see the holder of the Intercontinental Cup play a pair of two five-day match series against the lowest ranked test-playing nation every four years, starting in 2018.

Playing time See also: Playing time (cricket) The times of sessions and intervals may be altered in certain circumstances: if bad weather or a change of innings occurs close to a scheduled break, the break may be taken immediately; if there has been a loss of playing time, for example because of bad weather, the session times may be adjusted to make up the lost time; if the batting side is nine wickets down at the scheduled tea break, then the interval may be delayed until either 30 minutes has elapsed or the team is all out; the final session may be extended by up to 30 minutes if 90 or more overs have not been bowled in that day's play (subject to any reduction for adverse weather); the final session may be extended by 30 minutes (except on the 5th day) if the umpires believe the result can be decided within that time. In the early days of Test cricket, matches were played for four days. Until the 1980s, it was usual to include a 'rest day,' often a Sunday. There have also been 'Timeless Tests', which did not end after a predetermined maximum time.

In 2005, Australia played a six-day match against a World XI, which the ICC sanctioned as an official Test match even though the match reached a conclusion on the fourth day. There have been attempts by the ICC, the sport's governing body, to introduce day-night Test Matches. In 2012, The International Cricket Council passed playing conditions that allowed for the staging of day-night Test matches. The first day-night Test took place during New Zealand's tour to Australia in November 2015. Play Further information: Cricket § Rules and game-play Test cricket is played in innings (the word denotes both the singular and the plural). In each innings, one team bats and the other bowls (or fields). Ordinarily four innings are played in a Test match, and each team bats twice and bowls twice. Before the start of play on the first day, the two team captains and the match referee toss a coin; the captain who wins the toss decides whether his team will bat or bowl first. In the following scenarios, the team that bats first is referred to as Team A and their opponents as Team B. Usually the teams will alternate at the completion of each innings.

Thus, Team A will bat (and Team B will bowl) until its innings ends, and then Team B will bat and Team A will bowl. When Team B's innings ends, Team A begin their second innings, and this is followed by Team B's second innings. The winning team is the one that scores more runs in their two innings. A team's innings ends in one of the following ways: The team is "all out". This typically occurs when a team has lost ten wickets (ten of the eleven batsmen having been dismissed) and are "bowled out". It may occasionally occur with the loss of fewer wickets if one or more batsmen are unavailable to bat (through injury, for example). The team's captain declares the innings closed, usually because they believe they have enough runs. A declaration before the innings starts is called an innings forfeiture. The team batting fourth score the required number of runs to win. The prescribed time for the match expires. If, at the completion of its first innings, Team B's first innings total is 200 or more fewer than Team A's, the captain of Team A may (but is not required to) order Team B to have their second innings next.

This is called enforcing the follow on. In this case, the usual order of the third and fourth innings is reversed: Team A will bat in the fourth innings. It is rare for a team forced to follow on to win the match. In Test cricket it has only happened three times, although over 285 follow-ons have been enforced: Australia was the losing team on each occasion, twice to England, in 1894 and in 1981, and once to India in 2001. If the whole of the first day's play of a test match has been lost because of bad weather, then Team A may enforce the follow on if Team B's first innings total is 150 or more fewer than Team A's. During the 2nd test between England and New Zealand at Headingley, Leeds, 24–28 May 2013, England batted first after the first day was lost because of rain. New Zealand, batting second, scored 180 runs fewer than England, meaning England could have enforced the follow on, though chose not to.

This is similar to four-day first class cricket, where the follow on can be enforced if the difference is 150 runs or fewer. After 80 overs, the captain of the bowling side may take a new ball, although this is not required. The captain will usually take the new ball: being harder and smoother than an old ball, a new ball generally favours faster bowlers who can make it bounce more variably. The roughened, softer surface of an old ball can be more conducive to spin bowlers, or those using reverse swing. The captain may delay the decision to take the new ball if he wishes to continue with his spinners (because the pitch favours spin). After a new ball has been taken, should an innings last a further 80 overs, then the captain will have the option to take another new ball. A Test match may end in one of six results: All four innings are complete. The team batting fourth are all out before overtaking the other team, usually before matching the other team's score. The team that batted third are the winners by a margin equal to the difference in the aggregate runs scored by the two teams (for example, "Team A won by 95 runs").

Very rarely (in over 2,000 Test matches played, it has only happened twice) the scores can end level, resulting in a tie. The team batting in the fourth innings overtakes the opposing team's run total. The match ends, and the team batting fourth is the winner by a margin equal to the number of wickets still to fall in the innings (for example, "Team B won by five wickets"). The third innings concludes with the team that batted twice still trailing the team that batted once. The match ends without playing a fourth innings. The team that batted only once is the winner by a margin equal to "an innings" plus the difference in aggregate run totals of the teams (for example, "Team B won by an innings and 26 runs"). Time for the match expires without a result being reached. This usually occurs at the end of the last day of the match. The result is a draw: there is no winner, no matter how superior the position of one of the sides.

Rain causing a loss of playing time is a common factor in drawn matches, although matches may be drawn even without interference from the weather: usually as a result of poor time management or an intentional effort on the part of one team to avoid losing. The match is abandoned because the ground is declared unfit for play. This has occurred three times, resulting each time in a draw being declared: England v Australia at Headingley, Leeds, 1975 (vandalism); West Indies v England at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, 1998 (dangerous ground); West Indies v England at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 2009 (dangerous ground). The match is awarded through a forfeiture. If a team refuses to take the field of play, the umpires may award the match to the opposing team. This has only happened once in Test cricket, in the 2006 Fourth Test between England and Pakistan. Test cricket Competitions Test cricket is almost always played as a series of matches between two countries, with all matches in the series taking place in the same country (the host).

Often there is a perpetual trophy that is awarded to the winner, the most famous of which is the Ashes contested between England and Australia. There have been two exceptions to the bilateral nature of Test cricket: the 1912 Triangular Tournament, a three-way competition between England, Australia and South Africa (hosted by England), and the Asian Test Championship, an event held in 1998–99 and 2001–02. The number of matches in Test series has varied from one to seven. Up until the early 1990s, Test series between international teams were organised between the two national cricket organisations with umpires provided by the home team. With the entry of more countries into Test cricket, and a wish by the ICC to maintain public interest in Tests in the face of the popularity of one-day cricket, a rotation system was introduced that sees all ten Test teams playing each other over a six-year cycle, and an official ranking system (with a trophy held by the highest-ranked team). In this system, umpires are provided by the ICC.

An elite panel of eleven umpires has been established, and the panel is supplemented by an additional International Panel that includes three umpires named by each Test-playing country. The elite umpires officiate almost all Test matches (usually not a Test involving their home country); the International Panel is only employed when the cricketing calendar is filled with activity, or for one-day internationals (ODIs). Test cricket Early history Main articles: History of cricket, History of Test cricket from 1877 to 1883, History of Test cricket from 1884 to 1889 and History of Test cricket from 1890 to 1900 Sides designated as "England" began to play in the late 18th century, but these teams were not truly representative. Early international cricket was disrupted by the French Revolution and the American Civil War. The earliest international cricket match was between USA and Canada, on 24 and 25 September 1844. This has never been officially considered a "Test match". Tours of national English sides abroad took place, particularly to the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

The Australian Aborigines team became the first organised overseas cricketers to tour England in 1868. Two rival English tours of Australia were proposed in the early months of 1877, with James Lillywhite campaigning for a professional tour and Fred Grace for an amateur one. Grace's tour fell through and it was Lillywhite's team that toured New Zealand and Australia in 1876–77. Two matches against a combined Australian XI were later classified as the first official Test matches. The first match was won by Australia, by 45 runs, and the second by England. After reciprocal tours established a pattern of international cricket, The Ashes was established as an ongoing competition during the Australian tour of England in 1882. Surprisingly beaten, a mock obituary of English cricket was published in the Sporting Times the following day: the phrase "The body shall be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia" prompted the subsequent creation of the Ashes urn. The series of 1884–85 was the first to be held over five matches: Shaw, writing in 1901, considered the side to be "the best ever to have left England".

The first Test series not to involve Australia occurred in 1888–89, as an understrength England side toured South Africa. ^ Lifeless pitches should not be accepted, The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 August 2009 ^ Knight's return to proving ground, Retrieved 1 August 2009 ^ Adam Gilchrist's Cowdrey Lecture, 2009, ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 August 2009 ^ Rundell, Michael (2006). Dictionary of Cricket. London: A&C Black Publishers Ltd. p.336. ISBN978-0-7136-7915-1. Retrieved 17 October 2011. ^ Australia v England 1st Test 1876/1877 – ESPNcricinfo ^ Australia v England Centenary Test – ESPNcricinfo ^ a b "ICC paves way for Day-Night Tests". Wisden India. 29 October 2012. ^ a b "First day-night Test for Adelaide Oval". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 29 June 2015.

^ Zimbabwe Cricket Side Resume International Test Play After Six Year Break – Voice of America ^ Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. Virgin Islands ^ Brown, Alex (3 November 2009). "Ireland in hot pursuit of Full Member status | Ireland Cricket News". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 July 2010. ^ "Ireland announce plans to apply for Test status". BBC Sport– Cricket. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2013. ^ "Ireland and Scotland to get Test chance as ICC approves play-off". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014. ^ "The Laws of Cricket – Law 15.8". Lords.org. Retrieved 18 July 2013.

^ "ICC Standard Test Match Playing Conditions ("Playing Conditions") cl 16.1.1" (PDF). Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "Playing Conditions cl 16.2" (PDF). Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "Lord's could host first day night Test in May 2010". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "The Laws of Cricket – Law 12". Lords.org. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "The Laws of Cricket – Law 13". Lords.org. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "HowSTAT! Winning after Following-On". Howstat.com. Retrieved 23 July 2010. ^ "2nd Test: England v New Zealand at Leeds, May 24–28, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ The Laws of Cricket – Law 5; Playing Conditions cl 5.4 ^ "On This Day: 19 August".

BBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2010. ^ "1st Test: West Indies v England at Kingston, Jan 29 – Feb 2, 1998 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "2nd Test: West Indies v England at North Sound, Feb 13–17, 2009 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "The Laws of Cricket – Law 21.3". Lords.org. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ "England awarded abandoned Oval Test 'win'". The Guardian (London). 1 February 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2010. ^ "Test abandoned after ball dispute". BBC News. 20 August 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2010. ^ "Australia v England, Seventh Test, 1970–71". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ^ Rajesh, S.

(16 April 2011). "Neutral umpires". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 March 2012. ^ United States of America v Canada 1844 – ESPNcricinfo ESPNcricinfo XI: Associate players who could have played Test cricket | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo A look at some players who missed out on Test cricket because they came from Associate-member countries. (One from each nation.) 30 Mohammad Shahzad , Afghanistan Seemingly the best of the many promising players who have inspired Afghanistan's climb up the world rankings, the chunky Shahzad has already hit three one-day international centuries - and 214 not out in an Intercontinental Cup game against Canada in Sharjah in February 2010, anchoring an incredible chase as Afghanistan reached 494 to win by six wickets. If we weren't restricted to one player per country, then Shahzad's team-mates Mohammad Nabi, a fine allrounder, and fast bowler Hamid Hassan would also be close to selection here.

Sheridan Raynor , Bermuda A left-hander who made centuries against county-standard opposition in the 1960s, Raynor so impressed Garry Sobers during one game that, legend has it, Sobers asked that he should be given a trial for West Indies, only to be told that Bermuda was not affiliated to their board. When Raynor died in 2011, proceedings were held up in the Bermudian parliament as MPs paid tribute. Steve Tikolo , Kenya A fine batsman who at his best exuded something of the confidence of Viv Richards at the crease, Tikolo was the backbone of the strong Kenyan side that shocked West Indies in the 1996 World Cup and reached the semi-finals in 2003. With little competition for places, he played on for too long, but remains arguably the best batsman yet produced by one of the non-Test nations. His 31 centuries in all matches for Kenya included two doubles. Ryan ten Doeschate , Netherlands Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards both reached 1000 ODI runs in just 22 matches. And next, in 24 games, comes... Ryan ten Doeschate of Netherlands.

Granted, some of his runs were against fellow Associates, but it's still a mighty record: and ten Doeschate crashed World Cup hundreds against England and Ireland to emphasise his talent. If we weren't restricted to one player per country, his erstwhile orange-clad team-mates Roland Lefebvre (the first Dutchman to score a County Championship century) and long-serving batsman Tim de Leede might also feature. James Aitchison , Scotland A minister in the Church of Scotland, Aitchison never found the time for county cricket - but he did score 56 centuries in club cricket and seven for Scotland, including one off the 1956 Australians that Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller rated the best against them all summer. Worcestershire's Roly Jenkins was less impressed after a long, chancy innings, suggesting that with his luck the Rev Aitchison ought really to be an archbishop.

Gerrie Snyman , Namibia Namibia's big-hitting middle-order batsman Snyman would add punch to our team in limited-overs matches - if he can reproduce the form that brought him 230 (out of a completed innings of only 282, and including 11 sixes) against Kenya in January 2008, or 201 not out (only seven sixes this time) at Kenya's expense late in 2012. Niall O'Brien - Ireland There are several Irish candidates for our XI, notably canny spinners like Dermott Monteith and Scott Huey, but we need a wicketkeeper - and feisty O'Brien is good behind the stumps, and active in front of them too, as proved by several hundreds in county cricket and for Ireland.

And he wouldn't be lost for words in this company: "I've said a few things to Kevin Pietersen," O'Brien admits , "and I'd like to think I've chirped him out a couple of times." Basil Robinson , Canada A Rhodes Scholar from Vancouver who bowled probing offspin for Oxford University in 1947 and 1948 - Trevor Bailey was among his six victims in the '47 Varsity Match - Robinson later captained a strong Canadian team that held its own with the counties on a tour of England in 1954. He later became a diplomat, wrote a biography of the Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker, and a family history entitled This Family Robinson. Denmark's Ole Mortensen took more than 650 wickets in county cricket between 1983 and 1994 © Getty Images Bart King , USA Undoubtedly the best cricketer ever produced by the United States, John Barton King was a fast bowler who swerved the ball disconcertingly.

King toured England three times with the strong Philadelphia teams of his day, and actually topped the English first-class averages in 1908 (when he was 35) with 87 wickets at 11.01. That followed 72 at 20.10 in 1897, and 93 at 14.91 in 1903. In 1909 he took all ten wickets against a touring Irish team, and three years later he took 17 Australian wickets in two matches as they journeyed home from the Triangular Tournament in England. Ole Mortensen , Denmark A fine seamer who achieved near-cult status during a long county stint with Derbyshire, Mortensen emerged from club cricket in Denmark. Nicknamed "Erik Bloodaxe", he took more than 650 wickets in all formats over a dozen seasons from 1983. "He says little, and his appeal is presumably Danish for owzat," wrote Peter Roebuck.

"He takes a dim view of fielding and, if he is moved from one spot to another, an even dimmer view of chasing any ball entering his previous domain." However, Roebuck added, "He is, though, a very fast bowler... Steaming in with his flailing black hair, he bowled me just about the best over I've ever received." Clem Gibson, Argentina A purveyor of fast swing in his youth, Gibson of Eton was one of the schoolboy bowlers chosen as Cricketers of the Year by Wisden in 1918 in the absence of any first-class cricket in England. He went on to Cambridge University, and in 1921 took 6 for 64 for the all-amateur XI, raised by Archie MacLaren, that defeated the previously dominant Australian tourists. Gibson soon returned to his native Argentina, where he was a pillar of the local cricket scene. MacLaren apparently arranged for him to be invited to tour Australia for the 1924-25 Ashes, but Gibson declined. Steven Lynch is the editor of the Wisden Guide to International Cricket 2013. Ask Steven is now on Facebook © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Question: Which non-test playing cricket nation bowled out the West Indies for 25 runs in 1969?
Answer: IRELAND