Mail Sport looks back at the history of the Cricket World Cup

10/06/2023 Сricket

A West Indian carnival at Lord’s, Australian dominance and Ben Stokes heroics as England triumph ‘by the barest of margins’… Mail Sport looks back at the history of the Cricket World Cup

  • The latest edition of the Cricket World Cup got underway in India on Thursday
  • England are the reigning champions but started with a chastening defeat
  • Mail Sport has dug into its picture archives to find some classic moments  

The Cricket World Cup began in India on Thursday with a repeat of the 2019 final – and New Zealand exacted a measure of revenge on Jos Buttler’s England side for their defeat ‘by the barest of margins’ at Lord’s.

The inaugural edition of the tournament took place in England in 1975 and was won by the West Indies.

Since then, Australia have dominated, lifting the trophy five times, and they face a blockbuster meeting with India on Sunday.

The hosts head into the 2023 edition as favourites and to mark the start of the tournament, we have delved into the Mail Sport archives to dig out the very best pictures from tournaments gone by.

The Cricket World Cup began back in 1975 and West Indian fans created a carnival atmosphere in the Lord’s stands at the inaugural final as their team beat Australia by 17 runs

Crowds at The Oval for the 1975 group stage match between West Indies and Australia – Windies won by seven wickets after they’d bowled Australia out for 192

England’s Nasser Hussain celebrates taking a catch in the lead-up to the 1999 tournament

Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar appeals for a wicket during the 1999 group stage match against Australia – Pakistan would win this Headingley thriller by 10 runs 

The great Brian Lara smashes a six during West Indies’ 1999 World Cup match against New Zealand at Southampton – they would win the match by seven wickets 

South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs bats during the 1999 Super Six match against New Zealand at Edgbaston. South Africa won by 74 runs en route to the semi-finals

Australia party like it’s 1999 after they smashed Pakistan by eight wickets to win at Lord’s 

The Princess of Wales, then the Duchess of Cambridge, shows off her batting skills at a 2015 Cricket World Cup young cricketers’ event in Christchurch, New Zealand

Ben Stokes insists he didn’t mean it after the ball deflected off his bat while diving to make his ground and flew away for four during the epic 2019 England vs New Zealand World Cup final

To buy any of these brilliant pictures from Mail Sport’s archive, visit The Northcliffe Collection. 

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