1975 WORLD CUP

The cricket world cup of 1975 was the first ever cricket world cup and looking back on it is quite a bizarre experience. Prior to 1975, only 18 one day internationals had ever been played. The idea of ODI cricket was in its infancy reflected in cricket whites, a red ball and 60 over format closer resembling Test cricket. Held in England the cricket world cup went from June 7 to June 21 over a fortnight period.
The spirit in which the game was played was a lot more docile than what we have come to expect from the modern era of one day internationals. Many sides chose to treat the new format as a shortened Test match.
In a bizarre episode, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar made history with surely the craziest runs chase of all time versus England in the group stages. Chasing a challenging score of 335 Gavaskar decided to bat through the innings amounting a sluggish, brick wall, Boycottesque 36 not out from 174 balls displaying a contemptuous attitude in the process. His lack of desire to even attempt to pursue the target would be lamented these days. I hate to think what Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith would make of it, having chased down 435 in the greatest ODI international that ever was.
Teams Present at Cricket World Cup 1975:
1.Australia
2.East Africa (cricketers from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia)
3.England
4.India
5.New Zealand
6.Pakistan
7.Sri Lanka (pre test match status)
8.West Indies
Despite the first cricket world cup of 1975 facing difficulties in clawing itself away from the traditional form of Test Cricket the tournament was a marked success that started the rapid evolution of cricket over the last 30 years. The English weather for once held off and an enthralling fortnight of cricket took place culminating in the final taking place between the West Indies and Australia who beat New Zealand and England in their respective semis.
Eventual World Cup Winners: West Indies
And what a final it was! On June 21 1975, 26,000 brimming faces at Lords witnessed the first ever cricket world cup ripsnorter of a final. Clive Lloyd, the West Indies skipper and arguable man-of-the-match, executed a scintillating display of hard hitting (102 from 85 balls, 12 fours, 2 sixes) that would send shivers down the spines of the likes of Yuvraj and Afridi nowadays. His single handed efforts set up an impressive total and laid the groundwork for a West Indies world cup triumph.
Having set the Aussies a target of 292 to win Viv Richards proceeded to show the new importance of fielding in the one day game by running out three of their top order. Whilst the top order collapsed an unlikely final dramatic twist almost occurred with a valiant final wicket stand from the great fast bowlers Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee. The partnership of 41 threatened to snatch an astonishing victory until wicket-keeper Deryck Murray’s steely mentality, coolness under pressure and precision of throw, to underarm the wicket to dismiss Thomson formalised the result as Lord’s was immediately engulfed by thousands of excited fans.
The West Indies triumphed as Australia fell 17 runs short of the total. A truly staggering final to set the tone of one day cricket and remains a benchmark with which all cricket world cup finals will be compared to. The cricket world cup final of 1975 is still the greatest ever final in many people’s eyes.

WORLD CUP HISTORY

World cup tournament has a tremendous history. It started in 1975 in England. It’s the biggest tournament in the world of cricket. The first three tournaments in the world cup were known as Prudential Cup with the sponsorship of prudential plc, a known pecuniary services company. It’s a privilege for the players to play for the world cup and players feel proud and lucky to be a part of world cup tournament. They put their best effort to win the glorious cup and hence to be called world champions.World cup history says that the earlier matches consisted of 60 overs per players and it was played in white uniform with red balls. Earlier the matches were held only during day. Till 1992 World Cup, only 8 teams participated in the tournament.Afterwards, cricket became more and more famous and gradually it was considered a good sport by many countries. Now, in world cup 2007, 16 teams have participated to battle for the cup. In 1975, England, New Zealand, India, East Africa, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in world cup tournament.In 1979, East Africa was part of the world cup team while in 1983, Zimbabwe made an entry. The same teams took part in the 1987 World Cup. In 1992, South Africa entered in the group to play the world cup and that year 9 teams took part in the tournament. By 1996, the number of teams have increased to 12 with the participation of three more teams in the group. They were UAE, Netherlands and Kenya. But in 1999 world cup, UAE and Netherlands played for the world cup.As we all know that cricket was born in England and the first three world cup was played here. In 1987, for the first time in the world cup history the tournament was held outside England. World cup 1987 introduced impartial umpires to give more fair decision. World cup matches have contributed more and more records in the cricket’s History. The records in the world cup history consist of most excellent batting strike rate, most run-scorers, top bowlers, best bowling, finest bowling strike rate, main wicket-takers, team totals, lowest team totals, all major catches and maximum individual scores, and actually the most dismissals.Initially the world cup confined the attention of only few spectators, but gradually it has mesmerized millions of viewers who keenly wait for the tournament. Australia has won the world cup thrice, West Indies twice and India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have won once. Ever since in the world cup history, Australia has been one of the toughest contenders for the world cup. World cup history has many fascinating records. This is the ninth world cup being held in a caribbean nation called West Indies. Many arrangements have been done to welcome the teams who will again make some new records.The history of cricket has many more things to unveil which is yet to be known by the fans. You can find many more interesting facts and figures about world cup history from the various sources. Some sources are cricket dedicated sites which will provide you the complete information of this tournament’s history. This history contains many achievements and landmarks made by the players. Some players like Brain Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, Imran khan etc are the best players in cricket and the records made by them are very fascinating.Summary: Cricket fans are always eager to know the world cup history. It is always exciting to know the records made by the players and the fans too are anxious to the details about the records. You can even know the detail information about the past cricket from internet, books, sports channel etc.All these sources provide accurate information about the world cup history.Ella Wilson is a cricket fanatic. She simply loves the game and tries to catch live action no matter where she is.At Stickiewicket she works on online cricket score, Fantasy cricket and Cricket News among other things.