crazycricketers

Fourteen teams played in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. In the first round,

they were divided into two groups of 7 teams.Australia struggled their

way to 212 against tight Sri Lankan bowling,thanks mainly to 91 from

Andrew Symonds. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took

three wickets. Australia's pace attack then ripped through the Sri Lankan

top order, with Brett Lee taking three early wickets and Glenn McGrath

taking one. By the time rain arrived in the thirty-ninth over, continued

tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 7/123, well behind the target

given by the Duckworth-Lewis method.


The fairytale finally ended for the Kenyan team, the first and only non

to date. Sachin Tendulkar, with 83 runs, and Sourav Ganguly with 111 off

114 balls, batted the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to Under

the Durban lights, the newly potent Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan,

the experienced Javagal Srinath, and Ashish Nehra careered through the

Kenyan top order, who were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 179.

It all started in Australia's favor with wayward bowling and then the

attacking batting display by australian's, Ponting in particular

dispatching the bowling over the fence with fearsome regularity making

140 from 121 balls. The final Australian total of 2-359(at that time) was

their second highest ever in ODI history.The Australian total looke

impregnable, particularly after India's trump card Sachin Tendulkar was

out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn completing the

caught and bowled. Nevertheless, Viru's run-a-ball half century gave

India respectability maintained a high scoring rate,but their only

realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted

by rain in the eighteenth over. However, the rain proved fleeting, and

India's hopes were dashed when Sehwag was run out by Darren Lehmann for

82. India's batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase and were

finally bowled out for 234 giving Australia an emphatic victory by a

record margin (in World Cup finals thus far) of 125 runs,underlining

their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named "Man Of The Match",

and Sachin Tendulkar, for his demolition of bowling attacks, was named

"Player Of The Tournament."

The 1999 Cricket World Cup was hosted primarily by England, but Ireland,

Scotland and the Netherlands also hosted some games. The World Cup was

won by Australia. Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets in a one-sided

final at Lord's Cricket Ground in London. New Zealand and South Africa

were the other semifinalists.

The format of the world cup was as follows: The 12 contestants were

divided into 2 groups, in each of which teams played each other in the

league stage. The top three from each group advanced to the Super Sixes,

a new concept brought about in this World Cup, where each qualifier from

group A played with each qualifier from group B. The teams also carried

forward their points from games against each qualifer from their group.

The top four in the Super Sixes contested the semifinals.

The 1996 Cricket World Cup was won by Sri Lanka who beat Australia by 7

wickets at the final in Lahore.The 1996 World Cup was played in India,

Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Three teams made their World Cup debuts in 1996:

the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Kenya. The Netherlands lost

each of their five matches while the U.A.E. only beat the Dutch. Kenya,

however, recorded a surprise victory over the West Indies in Pune.

The Sri Lankans, coached by Dav Whatmore and captained by Arjuna

Ranatunga, used Player of the Tournament Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh

Kaluwitharana as opening batsmen to take advantage of the fielding

restrictions during the first 15 overs of each innings.Sri Lanka won the

first semi-final over India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd

estimated at 100,000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had

slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to

throw fruit and plastic bottles onto the field. The players left the

field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players

returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were

lit in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri

Lanka, the first default ever in a Test or One-day international.

In the second semi-final in Mohali, Australia recovered from 15 for 4 to

reach 207 for 8 from their 50 overs. The West Indians had reached 165 for

2 in the 42nd over before losing their last 8 wickets for 37 runs in 50

balls.

Sri Lanka won the toss in the final and sent Australia in to bat despite

the team batting first having won all five previous World Cup finals.

Mark Taylor top scored with 74 in Australia's total of 241 for 7. After

Australia had put down no fewer than five catches, Sri Lanka won the

match in the 47th over with Aravinda de Silva following his 3 for 42 with

an unbeaten 107 to win the Player of the Match award.

The 1992 World Cup was won by Pakistan, captained by Imran Khan, who beat

England by 22 runs in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Pakistan won just one of their first five matches and only qualified for

the semi-finals by beating the previously undefeated New Zealand side in

their final round robin game. New Zealand and South Africa were the

losing semi-finalists.

South Africa's semi-final against England ended in controversial

circumstances when, after a rain delay, the rule in use for revising

target scores in rain-affected matches revised their target from 22 runs

from 13 balls to an impossible 21 runs from one ball. This rule was

replaced for One-day International matches in Australia after the World

Cup, and it was eventually superseded by the Duckworth-Lewis method for

the 1999 World Cup onwards.

Participating Teams:

Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
South Africa
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe

The Cricket World Cup in 1987 was the fourth edition of the tournament.

It was held from October 9 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan -

the first held outside England. The format was unchanged from 1983 except

for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50, the

current standard. 8 countries participated in the event.The top two teams

in each group qualified for the semifinals, whose winners played the

final. The matches were played with traditional white clothing and red

balls. They were all played during the day.

The 1987 World Cup was lifted by Allan Border, captain of Australia who

won against arch-rivals England by 7 runs in the most closely fought

World Cup final to date in the Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta. The

other semifinalists, India and Pakistan failed to bring about an eagerly

awaited India-Pakistan final. The West Indies failed to live up to

expectations by not even qualifying for the semifinals (in part because

of Courtney Walsh's refusal to mankad Saleem Jaffar). David Boon was man

of the match.


Participating Teams:


Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe

The Cricket World Cup in 1983 (aka Prudential Cup, 1983) was the third

edition of the tournament. It was held 1983-06-09 – 1983-06-25 in

England. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary

matches were played in two groups of four teams each, and each country

played the others in its group twice. The top two teams in each group

qualified for the semi-finals.The matches consisted of 60 overs per team

and were played in traditional white uniform and with red balls. They

were all played during the day.

The 1983 World Cup was full of dramatic cricket right from the start.

Underdogs India and Zimbabwe scored upset victories over the West Indies

and Australia respectively. England, Pakistan, India and tournament

favourites West Indies qualified for the semifinals.


Participating Teams:


Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe

World Cup 1979

The Cricket World Cup in 1979 was the second edition of the tournament.

It was held from June 9 to June 23, 1979 in England. The format had

remained unchanged from 1975. 8 countries participated in the event. The

preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 each. The top two teams

in each group played the semifinals, whose winners played the final.

The matches played consisted of 60 overs per team and were played in

traditional white uniform and red balls. They were all played during the

day and hence started early.

The Prudential Cup was lifted by Clive Lloyd, captain of the West Indies

who started as the favorites to win the cup again.

The countries participating were:

Participants:

Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
West Indies
Sri Lanka
Canada

The Prudential Cup was lifted by Clive Lloyd, captain of the West Indies, runners being Australia.The Cricket World Cup in 1975 (aka Prudential Cup, 1975) was the first edition of the tournament. It was held from June 7 to June 21, 1975 in England.

8 countries participated in the event. The matches played consisted of 60 overs per team and were played in traditional white uniform and red balls. They were all played during the day and hence started early.

Participants:
Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
West Indies
Sri Lanka
East Africa

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Match Schedule

Group Stage - Match Schedule

DATE	TEAM	VENUES
Tue 13 Mar	West Indies v Pakistan	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Wed 14 Mar	Australia v Scotland	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Canada v Kenya	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Thur 15 Mar	Bermuda v Sri Lanka	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Ireland v Zimbabwe	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Fri 16 Mar	Netherlands v South Africa	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Ireland v Zimbabwe	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Fri 17 Mar	Bangladesh v India	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Ireland v Pakistan	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Sat 18 Mar	Australia v Netherlands	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Canada v England	Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia
Mon 19 Mar	Bermuda v India	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	West Indies v Zimbabwe	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Tue 20 Mar	Scotland v South Africa	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Kenya v New Zealand	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Wed 21 Mar	Bangladesh v Sri Lanka	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Pakistan v Zimbabwe	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Thu 22 Mar	Netherlands v Scotland	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Canada v New Zealand	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Fri 23 Mar	India v Sri Lanka	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Ireland v West Indies	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Sat 24 Mar	Australia v South Africa	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	England v Kenya	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Sun 25 Mar	Bangladesh v Bermuda	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago

Second Stage - Super Eight Match Schedule

DATE	TEAM	VENUES
Tue 27 Mar	D2 v A1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Wed 28 Mar	A2 v B1	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Thu 29 Mar	D2 v C1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Fri 30 Mar	D1 v C2	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Sat 31 Mar	A1 v B2	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Sun 01 Apr	D2 v B1	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Mon 02 Apr	B2 v C1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Tue 03 Apr	D1 v A2	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Wed 04 Apr	C2 v B1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Sat 07 Apr	B2 v A2	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Sun 08 Apr	A1 v C2	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Mon 09 Apr	D1 v C1	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Tue 10 Apr	D2 v A2	Queen's Park, Grenada
Wed 11 Apr	C2 v B2	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Thu 12 Apr	B1 v C1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Fri 13 Apr	A1 v D1	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Sat 14 Apr	A2 v C1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Sun 15 Apr	B2 v D1	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Mon 16 Apr	A1 v B1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Tue 17 Apr	A2 v C2	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Wed 18 Apr	D1 v B1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Thu 19 Apr	D2 v B2	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Fri 20 Apr	A1 v C1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Sat 21 Apr	D2 v C2	Kensington Oval, Barbados

Semi–Finals - Match Schedule

DATE	SEMI-FINALS	VENUES
Tue 24 Apr	2nd Vs. 3rd	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Wed 25 Apr	1st Vs. 4th	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia

ICC World Cup Final - Match Schedule

DATE	FINAL	VENUES
Sat 28 Apr	Semi-Finalist 1 Vs. 2	Kensington Oval, Barbados

Indian cricketer's annual contracts were delayed and would now be signed after the World Cup is over by April-end according to Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). At the meeting today with Team-India, the draft agreement was discussed in detail and the views of the board and players were also exchanged..according to which Players in Grade A receive a guaranteed amount of Rs.5 million annually, Grade B players get Rs.3.5 million while players in Grade C are entitled for Rs.2 million. Besides this, those who play in Test matches and one-day internationals (ODIs) are paid their match fees as well.

Who said IT jobs are very lucrative look at the staggering figures and the attention, following and the image cricketers carry.. God who wants to be an IT professional..be a cricketer and you will be going onsite atleast 3-4 times an year. ;))