The sport of cricket has an impressive history having its initial roots in Southeast England during the middle of the 17th century. With age, the game has developed a lot in both its stature and recognition received worldwide.  

The International Cricket Council, or the ICC, is the overall governing body of cricket. The council is responsible for organising and governing major international championships like the 50-over cricket world cup, T20 world cup and the champions’ league.

History of the Men’s cricket world cup

In 1912, the cricket council attempted to organise a triangular tournament between Australia, South Africa and England. However, it did not get approved due to financial restraints and poor weather conditions. 

The thought of organising a cricket world cup dates back to 1971 during a test match between Australia and England. The officials converted the rain-aborted match to a shorter version of 40 overs per side. The popularity and success of these shorter matches grew with time among cricket lovers globally. Finally, in 1975 the international cricket council organised the first cricket world cup played in England. It was the first-ever one-day international tournament participated by eight nations, including India.

Initially, Prudential PLC sponsored the first three cricket tournaments and was called the Prudential Cup. West Indies became the cricket world cup winners on the first two occasions in 1975 and 1979. However, India defeated West Indies in the final match of the 1983 cricket world cup by 43 runs. With this, India became the first Asian country to win the tournament. ICC organises the tournament every four years. However, on two occasions, the tournament did not follow this rule in 1992 and 1999 due to unforeseen circumstances.

List of ICC cricket world cup winners

Till 1992, the event comprised 8 official teams or the test playing nations. Later on, ICC increased the number of participating nations to as many as 16 teams in 2007. The last cricket world cup took place in 2019 in England. A total of ten teams participated, and England became the world champions for the first time. Let us now look at the men’s cricket world cup winners list since its inception in 1975.

  • 1975 – England hosted the first cricket world cup, the Prudential Cup. A total of 8 teams participated, and the West Indies won the tournament. They defeated Australia by 17 runs.
  • 1979 – England hosted the second edition of the tournament. West Indies defeated England by 92 runs. These are the only two occasions when West Indies won the cricket world cup.
  • 1983 – India became world champions for the first time on 25th March 1983. They defeated West Indies by 43 runs at Lord’s, England. This tournament helped India become a superpower in the cricketing fraternity in years to come.
  • 1987 – India and Pakistan hosted the world cup for the first time. Australia defeated England by 7 runs in Eden Gardens to win their first-ever cricket world cup title.
  • 1992 – Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the tournament for the first time. Pakistan won the tournament for the first time by defeating England. 
  • 1996 – Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India hosted the 1996 tournament. Sri Lanka defeated Australia by 7 wickets to clinch the title for the first time.
  • 1999 – England hosted the tournament after a gap of 16 years. Australia won for the second time by defeating Pakistan by 8 wickets.
  • 2003 – South Africa hosted the eighth edition of the tournament. Australia defeated India by 125 runs to win the title consecutively for the second time.
  • 2007 – West Indies hosted the ninth edition of the ICC cricket world cup. Australia also won this tournament by defeating Sri Lanka.
  • 2011 – India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka hosted the event, and India went on to win the world cup. They defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. 
  • 2015 – Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the tournament for the second time. Australia won the tournament for the fifth time by defeating New Zealand.
  • 2019 – England hosted the twelfth edition of the ICC cricket world cup. They defeated New Zealand based on the number of boundaries hit. The match had a dramatic ending with the super over, resulting in a draw.
  • 2023 – India will host the next cricket world cup in 2023. 

Conclusion

The ICC cricket world cup takes place every four years. The format has changed greatly over the years, starting from 8 nations initially and gradually increasing the number of teams. Currently, a total of 105 nations are present in ICC. Of these, 12 nations are regular test playing nations, and 94 are its associate members. Australia is the only team to have won the world cup the maximum number of times.