Unknown Facts About Cricket World Cup

The Cricket world cup has come across a large number of changes in the time span between when it was first started till now such as the introduction of the white ball, the first-ever hit wicket and many more.

1. First 50 over world cup in 1987

The fourth edition of the world cup, which was also the first-ever world cup held outside England, had a slight change in the number of overs. Previous three editions were played with a 60 over a game, whereas the 1987 edition was the first ever 50 over World Cup. The format of the game changed in 1987 because of shorter daylight in the Indian subcontinent as compared to England. The reduction of overs meant that there were no delays in the matches and all fixtures were completed in a shorter period of time. Since then, there hasn’t been a change in the format and all World cup events now have a 50 over format.

2. The Era of White Ball in World Cup - 1992

White balls were first introduced in world cricket in the brainchild stadium of Kerry Packer in 1977 in Australia. There were lots of changes in the 1992 World cup such as coloured clothing worn by teams, the sightscreen colour changed to black, day/night games were played in a World Cup for the first time. However, the biggest change which was introduced was the change in the colour of the ball from red to white. The colour was changed to white so that the players can sight the ball easily at night as the red ball was not easily visible and the players had issues to see the ball under floodlights.

3. Australia Finally Got Past West Indies in the World Cup

The Hosts Australia finally defeated the reigning world cup champions west indies for the very first time in 1992. The two sides had previously faced each other 4 times where the men from the Isles nation were victorious in each encounter. But in the 1992 world cup, Australia turned the tables by defeating west indies for the very first time to the delight of the Australian crowd. The match took place at the iconic MCG under lights. Australia won the match by 57 runs, courtesy a sublime century by their opener David Boon who was also adjudged the player of the match.

4. First World Cup hit wicket in 1975

Roy Fredericks became the first batsman to get out hit wicket in world cup history. The world cup final of the very first edition itself witnessed a hit wicket. The west Indian opener was on 12 when he tried to hook a short delivery from the legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee. Fredericks lost his balance and fell on the stumps. The West Indies although went onto win the world cup but Roy Fredericks entered in the history books and became the first-ever player to get out hit wicket. Since then 7 more players have got out hit wicket in world cup history.

5. Fastest delivery in World Cup history

Shoaib Akhtar bowled the fastest ball in World cup history, which was recorded at 100.2 mph or 161.3 km. He officially became the first bowler to break the 100 miles mark and the fastest bowler since speed was started being recorded. He broke the record against England in 2003 World Cup. Since then only the Australian duo of Shaun Tait and Brett Lee have managed to cross the 100mph mark.

By: Harsh Yadav

School: S.D. Public School

Class: 10th