You might be following the ICC world cup with full fervor and zeal. You might be discussing the entire matches with your family and friends like an expert. Do you feel your knowledge on cricket is complete? Do you know when and where did it start? If no, then scroll down to the lower sections of this article to learn about your favorite sport a bit more.
The ICC cricket world cup is the international championship for men's One Day International cricket. This event is organized by the sport's governing body called International Cricket Council (ICC). It starts with preliminary qualification rounds that leads up to the finals tournament which is organized every fourth year. The first three ICC cricket world cups were organized in England. In the year 1987, England and Pakistan jointly organized this international tournament. Australia, New Zealand, Caribbean and South Africa have also hosted it.
As per ICC regulation, all 10 teams automatically qualify for the World Cup. These teams are Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. These teams are commonly known as full teams. There are countries where cricket is firmly established and organized but do not qualify for Full Membership. They form the associate teams. There are a total of 35 of them. ICC organized a qualifying tournament in South Africa to determine which associate team would take part. Canada, Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands could qualify for it.
ICC world cup is the fourth-largest and the fourth-most-viewed sporting event on the planet. It started in the year 1912. The first ever participant countries of this tournament were England, Australia and South Africa. Unfortunately, the event was not a success. The summer there is extremely wet. It was difficult to play on damp and uncovered pitches. The attendance from the audience was poor. Due to both these and some other factors the championship did not take place until 1975. After this year onwards, it has been held after every four years.
The first four ICC World Cups got the participation from eight countries. Later in 1992, the number of participant countries increased to 9. And in the next world cup, which was in the year 1996, three more countries joined in to take part into it. The increase in the number of participants further increased to 14 in the year 2003. This number got increased to 16 teams in the last, i.e, 2007, ICC world cup. There are 14 teams paying in the present 2011 cricket world cup.
You might be aware of the fact that Australia is the most dominant team in this sport. Australia has won the ICC World Cup four times. The West Indies has won the first two titles and is the only other country to win the world cup multiple times.
