Is This Cricket World Cup a Balance of Power??
The game of cricket, played at a leisurely pace then at the Test and county level, was on verge of going through a transition with the introduction of limited-over’s games at the county level. Just about then, the first ever One-day International was played between England and Australia at the MCG in 1971. The popularity of this shorter format of cricket was catching at such a brisk pace that the authorities controlling the game had to bring in something different to make the game a lot more entertaining.
This eventually came in the shape of the first World Cup in 1975. Before that, it was in the year 1900 that cricket was played in the Paris Olympics in which Great Britain beat France by 158 runs in a two-inning match.
That was closest to the concept of a mega event that the game of cricket experienced. Therefore, a cricket World Cup was something to look forward to, a competition in which eight teams bunched into two groups participated including the six Test-playing nations including England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India and Pakistan and two from associate members of the ICC –– the East Africans and the Sri Lankans. The West Indies opened its World Cup history with a resounding nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, Manchester in June 1975. It was a 60-over-a-side format competition and since that crushing victory against a team widely regarded as the minnows, the West Indies acquired the title of ‘King of one-day cricket' following its nine-match winning streak till the 1979 Prudential World Cup final against England.
The third edition of the tournament triggered the era of South Asian domination of cricket's finances with India knocking off the two-time World champions West Indies off their pedestal. A clear favourite for the 1983 competition, the West Indies was jolted when India beat it at Old Trafford by 34 runs with the match going into the reserve day, Yashpal Sharma making 89 runs and Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri sharing
This eventually came in the shape of the first World Cup in 1975. Before that, it was in the year 1900 that cricket was played in the Paris Olympics in which Great Britain beat France by 158 runs in a two-inning match.
That was closest to the concept of a mega event that the game of cricket experienced. Therefore, a cricket World Cup was something to look forward to, a competition in which eight teams bunched into two groups participated including the six Test-playing nations including England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India and Pakistan and two from associate members of the ICC –– the East Africans and the Sri Lankans. The West Indies opened its World Cup history with a resounding nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, Manchester in June 1975. It was a 60-over-a-side format competition and since that crushing victory against a team widely regarded as the minnows, the West Indies acquired the title of ‘King of one-day cricket' following its nine-match winning streak till the 1979 Prudential World Cup final against England.
The third edition of the tournament triggered the era of South Asian domination of cricket's finances with India knocking off the two-time World champions West Indies off their pedestal. A clear favourite for the 1983 competition, the West Indies was jolted when India beat it at Old Trafford by 34 runs with the match going into the reserve day, Yashpal Sharma making 89 runs and Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri sharing