The World Cup - A brief history

rahul_parab2006 · Feb 21, 2007

The 1979 World Cup in England -

World Cup No. 2
Teams 8
Minnows Canada, Sri Lanka (not a Test nation until 1982)

Format As 1975

Innovations The minor teams emerged from a qualifying competition - the inaugural ICC Trophy, won by Sri Lanka. Australia handicapped themselves by selecting a largely unknown team (remember Graham Porter or Jeff Moss?) as their best players were still contracted to Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. West Indies and Pakistan, fearing ructions at home if they fared badly, chose all their WSC players. By the following winter, peace had broken out and all the Packer men were back in the fold.

Early running West Indies topped their group with two wins and a no-result against Sri Lanka, who upset India by 47 runs at Old Trafford. New Zealand, with a strong hand of medium-pacers who could bat a bit, qualified with comfortable wins over Sri Lanka and India before running West Indies close (32 runs) at Trent Bridge. England breezed past Australia and bowled out Canada for 45, before pipping Pakistan, the other qualifiers from that group, in a low-scoring match at Headingley. The only century in the group games was Gordon Greenidge's 106* for West Indies v India at Edgbaston.

The semis Mike Brearley (53 in 115 balls) and Graham Gooch (71 from 84) held England's innings together after early wickets against New Zealand at Old Trafford. Chasing 221, John Wright (69 from 137) did a similar job before he was run out. NZ had lots of allrounders - but still fell nine runs short. West Indies ran up 293 for 6 at The Oval, but were sweating as Majid Khan (81) and Zaheer Abbas (93) shared a sparkling stand of 166. But Pakistan subsided to 250; the middle-order destroyer was Viv Richards, with 3 for 52. West Indies were in the final again.

The final It took a lot to upstage a brilliant Richards century, but Collis King managed it. In his finest hour (77 minutes, actually, but no-one was counting) King blasted 86 for 66 balls, clouting ten fours and three sixes. Richards ended the innings by walking across his stumps and flicking Hendrick into the Mound Stand for six: 286 for 9. In reply England's openers put on 129 - but too slowly, using up more than half the available overs. Brearley made 64 from 130 balls and Boycott 57 from 103. With Larkins at No. 7, it was a strong batting side ... but they had too much to do, as Joel Garner (5 for 38) zeroed in on the base of the stumps, and 183 for 2 turned into 194 all out.

Last hurrah Majid Khan's 81 in the semi-final - made under one of his father's old straw hats - was his last World Cup innings. It was farewell World Cup, too, for Asif Iqbal, who captained Pakistan in the first two competitions although he hadn't then skippered them in Tests. For England, Boycott and Brearley, Old and Taylor weren't there next time round. Apart from captain Kim Hughes and a handy-looking leftie (AR Border) the only Australian who resurfaced was fast man Rodney Hogg. Canada weren't seen again for 24 years, either.

First hurrah Croft and Garner joined Holding and Roberts in the champions' awesome attack. Greenidge and Haynes posted 106 together in the first match - the first of their 15 century stands in ODIs. Border (see above) played in the first of his four World Cups, as did Gooch, John Wright, and Kapil Dev.

Not to be forgotten England's unlikely bowling secret weapon was Geoff Boycott, bowling his little medium-pacers round the wicket, with cap reversed. He took 2 for 15 v Australia, and 2 for 14 at the death against Pakistan, when he lured Sikander Bakht into a brainless swipe while Imran Khan was winning the game at the other end. This persuaded England to pick four recognised bowlers for the later games. Boycott even took a wicket in the semi-final, but the plan unravelled in the final itself - the 12 overs England cobbled together from part-timers Boycott, Gooch and Larkins cost 86.

rahul_parab2006 · Feb 21, 2007

The 1983 World Cup in England -

World Cup No. 3
Teams 8
Minnows Zimbabwe

Format Two groups of four, as in 1979; this time, though, each team played the others in its group twice, not once, to determine the four semi-finalists. As a ploy to reduce the chance of elimination by the weather, it was a good one, even if June wasn't wet and only three of the 27 games went into a reserve day anyway. For the first time, non-Test grounds were used.

Innovations Umpires were told to apply a stricter interpretation of wides and bouncers. The result? More than twice as many wides per match as in 1979 (9.59 to 4.64). A fielding circle (actually an oval) was introduced, 30 yards away from the stumps. Four fieldsmen needed to be inside it at all times.

Early running England dominated Group A, beating Pakistan and Sri Lanka twice each, and New Zealand once. They were followed into the semis by Pakistan, who squeezed through by scoring 0.08 more runs per over than the Kiwis. In Group B, West Indies and India disposed of a disappointing Australian side and newcomers Zimbabwe. The performance of the round came from Winston Davis of West Indies, who demolished the Aussies at Headingley with a Cup-record 7 for 51.

The semis India's dark horses had been creeping up on the rails all tournament, and now they cantered unfussily past a below-par England. Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil made light of a pitch which had undermined England's batsmen, and hit crashing fifties in a six-wicket win. West Indies strutted on, brushing aside Pakistan by eight wickets with more than 11 overs to go. They were helped by a display of Test-match patience from Pakistan's opener, Mohsin Khan, who scratched his way to an apologetic 70 off 176 balls. A lone boundary punctuated his 43 singles, and his team-mates succumbed to attempts to up the tempo at the other end.

The final In advance it looked like an anticlimax. It would surely be another big day for West Indies cricket, and no more than a big day out for the Indians. When India were strangled for 183, and Richards led West Indies to 50 for 1 in reply, Caribbean celebrations began. But then Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath - who finished their careers with a combined total of 103 wickets from 108 Tests - wobbled the ball around, and somehow took three wickets each to dismiss a disbelieving West Indies for 140. Upsets don't come much bigger.

Last hurrah It was an unhappy farewell for Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Rodney Marsh. Finalists in 1975, but also-rans in '83, they retired from international cricket a few months later. New Zealand's batting bedrock, Glenn Turner, played his last game for his country, and Bob Willis's creaking limbs didn't hold out much longer. It was Clive Lloyd's final World Cup too - there may never be a better chance to win three tournaments in a row.

First hurrah NZ's Martin Crowe, aged 20, announced himself on the World Cup scene with 97 in the tournament opener against England. There was a limited-overs debut for Abdul Qadir, in which he bamboozled NZ to the tune of 4 for 21, only to improve with 5 for 44 against Sri Lanka. For once he received a pasting from England (0 for 104 in two games).

Not to be forgotten In their first-ever Cup game Zimbabwe beat Australia by 13 runs, but even this looked commonplace after some chaos in Kent. Coming in to bat for India against Zimbabwe at a disastrous 17 for 5, Kapil Dev turned the tranquillity of Tunbridge Wells on its head by blasting an undefeated 175 out of 266 for 8, with 16 fours and six sixes. He put on a Cup-record 126 for the ninth wicket with Syed Kirmani, whose 24 not out was India's next-best score. Oh, and India won by 31 runs. Finally there was the mauling Martin Snedden took in New Zealand's opening match against England. With Allan Lamb in belligerent mood, his figures were an x-rated 12-1-105-2.

rahul_parab2006 · Feb 21, 2007

The 1987 World Cup in India and Pakistan -

World Cup No. 4
Teams 8
Minnows Zimbabwe

Format As in 1983 but, due to the shorter daylight hours on the subcontinent, games were 50 overs per innings, not 60. There was an attempt to cheer up disappointed crowds by staging a third-place play-off between Pakistan and India, but the star players demanded too much cash.

Innovations The first World Cup to be held away from England was also the first to feature neutral umpires.

Early running India beat Australia to the top of Group A on superior run-rate, despite losing to them by one run in the closest match of the tournament. Zimbabwe didn't disgrace themselves, but still lost every match and gave New Zealand (without the unavailable Hadlee) their only victory. In Group B Pakistan cruised through, but England (without the uninterested Gower and Botham) only qualified after a bit of a scramble. West Indies failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time, despite their 191-run annihilation of Sri Lanka.

The semis The hometown script started to go wrong. On a dodgy Bombay pitch, Gooch spent most of his time down on one knee as he and Gatting swept up 117 in 19 overs. The resulting 254 was too much even for India's talented batting line-up. Meanwhile Border's boys, fired up by Zaheer Abbas calling them a bunch of club cricketers, outplayed glamorous Pakistan at Lahore. Despite a searching spell from Imran (3 for 36), Australia eventually reached 267 as Steve Waugh hit 18 from the final over. In reply Pakistan were in the mire at 38 for 3. Imran and Miandad hinted at revival but, after their departure, Pakistan just didn't have the firepower. Australia did, amd McDermott finished with 5 for 54, the best figures of the tournament.

The final We didn't know it at the time, but this was the start of Australia's march to world domination. They won the toss and, as most teams had done throughout the tournament, chose to bat first. In the days before pinch-hitters, Marsh and Boon's 52 in the first ten overs constituted a flyer, and the runs kept flowing as Boon top-scored with 75. But with Gatting in command, their 253 seemed very gettable, until the captain felt the need to reverse-sweep Border's first ball; it took the top edge, bounced off his shoulder, and was snapped up by Greg Dyer behind the stumps. England were struggling from then, and though Lamb shepherded the tail well and DeFreitas biffed the ball around, 17 from Craig McDermott's final over was practically impossible.

Last hurrah Gavaskar, having hit his first and only ODI ton against NZ, and averaged 50 in the tournament, made his last international appearance. Fittingly, it was at Bombay, his home ground. Imran announced the first of his many retirements - but went on to win in 1992. Viv Richards, playing in his fourth World Cup, bid an apt adieu with a tournament-record 181 against Sri Lanka.

First hurrah Sidhu and Moody made their ODI debuts in the same match: Sidhu finished the tournament averaging 55, Moody just 5. Phil Simmons made a couple of fifties and a sparkling 89 against Sri Lanka. Tim May and Andrew Jones rather dribbled onto the international scene.

Not to be forgotten Courtney Walsh, normally the most reliable of death bowlers, had a terrible time. Allan Lamb and Co. took 30 off his last two overs as England scraped a two-wicket win, then Pakistan's last-wicket pair needed 14 from one over to sneak home. Qadir hit a straight six, before Walsh sportingly opted to warn Salim Jaffer for backing up too far, rather than just run him out. When West Indies lost, he received a carpet from a grateful Karachi firm, and a carpeting from the media.

rahul_parab2006 · Feb 21, 2007

The 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand -

World Cup No. 5
Teams 9
Minnows Only Zimbabwe

Format This was the Cup that thought it was a league. All played all in a qualifying round that went on for ever. It was fair, but about as exciting as the Nullarbor Plain. The good news was that South Africa joined in for the first time, following the end of apartheid.

Innovations Four big ones ... 1) Coloured clothing, with names on the back. 2) Floodlights for most of the 36 games. 3) The white ball: in fact two of them, one at each end (so they didn't get too grubby), which meant they swung prodigiously. 4) The fielding circle rules were refined, allowing only two men outside the ring in the first 15 overs. After that, it was as before: a minimum of four inside the circle. Result: the birth of the pinch-hitter. Ian Botham did the job for England, with mixed results.

Early running Australia, the holders and hosts, were such hot favourites that the pressure got to them. They lost the opening game, in New Zealand (Martin Crowe 100*), and then faced England at Sydney. Botham sniffed the chance to trample the Aussies into the dirt for one last time, took 4 for 31 and then made 53 not out as England won by eight wickets. Pakistan started dreadfully, losing to West Indies by 10 wickets, and would have gone out if rain had not saved them at Adelaide after England bowled them out for 74. England and New Zealand were the best teams for a long time, but both had peaked too soon. Imran Khan famously told his team: "Listen, just be as if you were a cornered tiger," and they moved into top gear.

The semis What's the Afrikaans for "We wuz robbed"? South Africa, playing England, needed 22 off 13 balls when it rained. By the time it stopped, they needed 21 off one ball. However, Kepler Wessels had chosen to bat second, and South Africa had bowled terribly slowly. NZ's brave run came to an end as Pakistan successfully chased 262, with the unknown Inzamam-ul-Haq thumping 60 off 37 balls.

The final Pakistan were on fire, and England were not. Derek Pringle (3 for 22) removed the openers, but Imran Khan and Javed Miandad (44 and 57* in the semi) made 72 and 58 as Pakistan recovered to 249 for 6. England were soon 69 for 4 (Botham 0), and when Neil Fairbrother (62) and Allan Lamb (31) launched a recovery, Wasim Akram snuffed it out, bowling Lamb and Chris Lewis with consecutive beauties. Pakistan won by 22 runs.

Last hurrah A whole herd of giants headed into the sunset. Imran never played again, Botham managed one last injury-ravaged summer, and it was also the last World Cup for Gooch, Border, Lamb, Des Haynes ...

First hurrah Haynes's opening partner was a young thruster named Lara. Mushtaq Ahmed shone for Pakistan, and Jonty Rhodes became the first superstar fielder.

Not to be forgotten Crowe opened NZ's bowling with Dipak Patel's offspin. When England met India at Perth, Botham faced Sachin Tendulkar for the only time in an international: a fascinating little duel ended with Tendulkar caught behind for 35.

rahul_parab2006 · Feb 21, 2007

The 1996 World Cup in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
-

World Cup No. 6
Teams 12
Minnows Holland, Kenya, United Arab Emirates

Format Two qualifying groups of six: each team played the other five in its group to determine the quarter-finalists. In other words, it took 30 matches to eliminate Zimbabwe and the three minnows, then seven more to reduce the remaining Test nations to one winner.

Innovations 15-over fielding restrictions had made their debut in 1992, but 1996 was the year the pinch-hitters really seized their opportunity. Sri Lanka, Australia and India exploited the wide open spaces with aggressive early batting. England didn't. The third umpire also made his first appearance in front of the TV monitor.

Early running Sri Lanka finished top of Group A despite beating only India of the fancied teams; Australia and West Indies forfeited their matches in Colombo rather than travel to a city where over 1000 people had been injured in a terrorist bomb only three weeks earlier. But South Africa were the clear favourites after five hyper-efficient victories in Group B. Gary Kirsten's 188 not out against UAE was a Cup record. England, meanwhile, lost all three of their games against Test nations, wobbled against Holland, and lost their lunch against UAE (at least, Neil Smith did).

The quarters Jayasuriya savaged England, who went down to their tenth successive defeat by a Test nation, but skipper Atherton got off lighter than Wasim Akram, who dropped out of Pakistan's tie with India, citing a side-strain. His Lahore house was stoned after they lost by 39 runs. A spectacular 130 from NZ's unheralded Chris Harris left Australia in need of their highest total batting second to win an ODI: Mark Waugh's record third hundred of the tournament (he had already become the first man to make successive Cup tons) made sure they got it. But the surprise packages were West Indies, as Lara's 111 inspired them to a 19-run win over South Africa.

The semis A Calcutta crowd of 110,000 boiled over as India slid to 120 for 8 in pursuit of Sri Lanka's 252. Fires were started in the stands, leading to a win "by default" for SL. India's decline had come as a surprise after Srinath removed ballistic openers Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana in the first over, but de Silva's 66 led a recovery. That was nothing, however, when compared with Australia's comeback: they were 15 for 4 before Law and Bevan dragged them up to 207 for 8, then West Indies cruised to 165 for 2 in the 42nd over. But four wickets from Warne and some tactical wizardry from Mark Taylor precipitated an incredible collapse: West Indies lost 8 for 37 in 50 balls, and Richardson was stranded on 49 not out.

The final No-one had dominated a World Cup final to the extent that de Silva did here. He took two catches and three wickets, including Australia's top-scorers Taylor and Ponting, then strolled to an elegant 107 not out. Handicapped by a slippery, dew-covered ball, Australia dropped several chances, but never looked like defending 241.

Last hurrah Javed Miandad, the only man to play in every World Cup to date, finally bowed out. He batted three times, making 11*, 5, and 38 in the quarter-final. And Robin Smith's selectorial misfortune continued: he helped provide England's brightest moment, a record 147-run opening stand against Pakistan, and was dumped for good immediately after the tournament. It was also World Cup curtains for Richie Richardson, Roger Harper, Asanka Gurusinha, Ramiz Raja, Manoj Prabhakar, Phil DeFreitas, Dipak Patel, Andy Waller and Craig McDermott (three Cups each). McDermott bowled only three overs before returning home with a calf strain.

First hurrah Waqar Younis, surprisingly, was appearing in his first World Cup (back injury in 1992). Atherton and Gough made their debuts in the deflating defeat by New Zealand, for whom only four players had prior Cup experience. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath added to growing reputations while Romesh Kaluwitharana is remembered as half of an all-conquering opening partnership, even though he made only 73 runs at 12.17.

Not to be forgotten Kenya beat West Indies in a qualifying match at Pune on Leap Year Day: Steve Tikolo, Kenya's only professional, top-scored with 29 out of 166, then Maurice Odumbe and Rajab Ali took three wickets apiece as West Indies crumbled for 93. The prize wicket of Brian Lara fell to a catch by portly, bespectacled keeper Tariq Iqbal; some thought it was the only ball he had held onto all day.

rahul_parab2006 · Feb 21, 2007

The 1999 World Cup in England -

World Cup No. 7
Teams 12
Minnows Scotland , Kenya, Bangladesh

Format
Not so much tinkering as a complete revamp. The 12 entrants were split into two groups, and the top three in each group went into the Super Six, carrying with them the points they had earned against the two teams who had also qualified from their group. They then played the qualifying teams from the other group, creating a final all-played-all league table, with the top four going into the semi-finals. Confused? Most people were.

Innovations
The Super Sixes were enough for everyone. The flaws became glaringly obvious as washed-out matches skewed the groups, and somehow Zimbabwe qualified at the top of their group as their defeats in the first stage came against sides who were eliminated. The organisers also hit on the idea of putting on an opening ceremony so dire as to make people long for the overblown hype of three years earlier.

Early running
Australia, the favourites, struggled, losing to Pakistan and New Zealand, and thereafter needed to win every game to avoid elimination. However, their match against West Indies was a coordinated farce, with the complex points system persuading Australia to aim for a narrow win to ensure both of them went through at New Zealand's expense - at one stage, chasing a paltry 111, Australia scored 12 runs in 10 overs. England, with home advantage, were surprisingly eliminated, mainly because Zimbabwe sprung two major upsets, defeating India and South Africa, while Sri Lanka, the holders, never remotely looked like staging anything resembling a meaningful defence. Bangladesh's defeat of Pakistan in a dead rubber sparked justified celebrations ... but deep suspicion has since been cast over the result.

Super Sixes
The system of carrying forward points earned against other qualifiers meant Zimbabwe headed the table before a match had been played, although they were beaten in all three games and eliminated. India, handicapped by qualifying without a point, went out despite a convincing victory over Pakistan, and Australia also had to come from a standing start, only securing a semi-final place against South Africa with a five-wicket win in their final match against ... South Africa. Pakistan topped the group, despite only winning one Super Six match (against Zimbabwe). New Zealand also went through with a solitary win.

The semis
At Old Trafford, Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (113*) and Wajahatullah Wasti (84) made light of overhauling New Zealand's 241 for 7 in a nine-wicket win, leaving those non-Pakistanis who had paid £120 to touts for a ticket a little short-changed. The other match at Edgbaston was a classic, with South Africa seemingly assured of victory in a see-saw contest when Lance Klusener, needing nine to win off the final over, crashed Damien Fleming's first two deliveries for four. Klusener tried a sharp single from the fourth ball, Allan Donald failed to hear his call and was run-out by half the length of the pitch. Even though the match was tied, Australia reached the final as they had finished higher in the Super Sixes.

The final
"An unworthy match produced worthy winners," noted Wisden Cricket M onthly. The game was eagerly anticipated, even though the Lord's crowd was more corporate than enthusiasts, but a contest that had started at 11.15, half an hour late, was all over by 4.35 because Pakistan, the most exciting side in the tournament, had gone to pieces when it mattered most.

Last hurrah
The cast list of those bowing out was impressive, not least a brace of Waughs from Australia , West Indies ' Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose (who topped the list of most economical bowlers), and Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva from Sri Lanka's victorious 1996 side. Three others were making a World Cup farewell, not that we knew it at the time - Shane Warne missed 2003 after failing a drugs test and then retired from one-day cricket, while Mohammad Azharuddin and Hansie Cronje fell from grace after being embroiled in the match-fixing scandal

First hurrah
Rahul Dravid topped the run scorers in his first tournament with 461; Klusener set the tournament alight with his clubbing; Zimbabwe's Neil Johnson showed his allround class with 367 runs and 12 wickets.

Not to be forgotten
The spread-betting companies failed to allow for the swinging white Dukes ball - one estimated 240 to 260 wides in advance and were taken to the cleaners when there turned out to be 979; wildly enthusiastic support for the Asian countries, not seen in any of the three previous English World Cups; Some dodgy planning which hoisted the ECB by its own petard - they got greedy and ended up with sponsor slots unfilled ... they also managed to release the official tournament single the day after England had been eliminated.

rahul_parab2006 · Feb 21, 2007

The 2003 World Cup in South Africa -

World Cup No. 8
Teams 14
Minnows Canada, Holland, Namibia, Scotland

Format
The organisers all but ignored the lessons learned from 1999 and persevered with the Super Six format, although they tried to even things out by tweaking how points earned in the group stage were carried through. It was still to prove fundamentally flawed as boycotts of matches in Kenya and Zimbabwe, on political and safety grounds, skewed the points so much that Kenya reached the semi-finals courtesy of wins over Bangladesh, Canada and Sri Lanka.

Innovations
The bloated schedule resulting from an increase from 12 teams from 14 led to far too many meaningless one-sided matches. "It was simply too big and too long," Wisden noted, and at over six weeks it was hard to disagree. The extra matches also forced reserve days to be scrapped even though the competition was being held late in South Africa's cricketing year, resulting in two crucial washouts which effectively eliminated Pakistan and West Indies. The experiment with using Hawkeye, trialled in the Champions Trophy a few months earlier, was not continued. Relay throwing made its first appearance.

Early running
The competition got off to a flier with a great game between South Africa and West Indies. At the time, the home side's defeat looked a mere hiccup; a ridiculous miscalculation in their final group game meant that it contributed to their early exit, with a resulting tailing off in local interest. Canada briefly enlivened proceedings when they beat Bangladesh, although Bangladesh's subsequent performances underlined how poor a side they were. Kenya went through to the Super Sixes courtesy of the win they were handed when New Zealand refused to play in Nairobi, but whatever the circumstances, their success provided some welcome highlights. Zimbabwe progressed thanks to England's boycott of Harare and the points they got in the abandoned match against Pakistan, but their every move was overshadowed by internal politics.

Super Six
Oh dear. Australia were all but guaranteed a semi-final berth before they started, while Kenya and Sri Lanka only had to beat a Zimbabwe side whose morale was in freefall to do the same. India joined those three with convincing wins in all their Super Six matches. But while the presence of two minnows pleased the neutrals, the absence of so many big names, including the host nation, meant many games were played out against a backdrop of empty stands.

The semis
For all the pre-match hype, India were never going to slip up against a keen but limited Kenyan side, especially in front of a capacity crowd that outnumbered the Africans by about 100 to one. Sourav Ganguly hit a hundred and from then on the players did little more than go through the motions. Australia survived some uneasy moments to see off Sri Lanka , with Brett Lee restoring the world order after Australia had limped to 212 for 7. Although rain ended the game early, the result had long since been known.

The final
In its way this was as one-sided as 1999, but this time the crowd were treated to a feast of batting before a second-half that was only ever going to go through the motions. So savage was the attack led by Ricky Ponting (140 not out off 121 balls) with support from Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist that Australia 's 359 for 2 was never under threat. Ganguly went down with guns blazing, although a rain break, preceded by Ponting desperately asking his spinners to race through overs to ensure a result, did briefly stir the crowd. The Australians were deserved winners, and unlike 1999, they dominated throughout. Michael Bevan collected his second winner's medal ...easy work for a man who wasn't called upon to bat or bowl in either final.

Last hurrah
A raft of Zimbabweans, most notably the black-armband rebels, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, who were driven into cricketing exile; Waqar Younis, the fall guy for Pakistan's failure; Carl Hooper, another captain to be chopped; Allan Donald, Jonty Rhodes and Gary Kirsten all wanted to end on a home win but slid into retirement in the rain at Durban; the two-time champions bade farewell to Bevan and Lehmann, the runners-up to Javagal Srinath. Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva called time after his team's semi-final exit.

First hurrah
More than ever, this tournament was dominated by the old guard, and few new faces blasted their way onto the World Cup scene. James Anderson showed promise, Andrew Symonds underlined what we all knew, while Kenya's Collins Obuya hinted at what might have been.

Not to be forgotten
Flower and Olonga's black armband protest (and the ICC tut-tutting which followed); Jon Davison's belligerent 111 against West Indies; Sachin Tendulkar's brilliance with the bat; England's "will they, won't they" prevarication over playing in Zimbabwe and the ICC's utter inability to put players before money; ambush marketing and the stand-off with the Indian team over sponsorship which preceded the event; Percy Sonn, the ICC president who was then head of the South African board, using his nation's time in the global spotlight to fall over blind drunk in front of other senior administrators.

The World Cup - A brief history

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