2015 Cricket World Cup
The
2015 Cricket World Cup is the 11th
Cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by
Australia and
New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015. 14 teams will play 49 matches in 14 venues, with Australia staging 26 games at grounds in
Adelaide,
Brisbane,
Canberra,
Hobart,
Melbourne,
Perth and
Sydney while New Zealand hosts 23 games in
Auckland,
Christchurch,
Dunedin,
Hamilton,
Napier,
Nelson and
Wellington.
[1] The final match of the tournament will take place at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The hosting rights were awarded at the same time as those of the
2011 Cricket World Cup, which Australia and New Zealand had originally bid to host, and the
2019 Cricket World Cup, which was awarded to England. The 2011 tournament was awarded to the four Asian
Test cricketplaying countries, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in a 10 to 3 vote (Pakistan later lost the co-hosting rights due to a
terrorist attackon the
Sri Lankan team). The
International Cricket Council were sufficiently impressed with the
trans-Tasman bid that it was decided to award the next World Cup to Australia and New Zealand.
[2][3] This is the second time that the tournament will be held in Australia and New Zealand, with the first being the
1992 Cricket World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar has been named as the 2015 Cricket World Cup Ambassador by the ICC for the second time, after 2011 Cricket World Cup where he was the ambassador. India are the defending champions, having won the tournament in
2011 when it was held in the Indian subcontinent, defeating Sri Lanka in the finals by 6 wickets. Tickets for the Pool B match between
Indiaand
Pakistan, played on 15 February 2015, reportedly sold out within 12 minutes of going on sale.
[4]
Host selection
Bids
The ICC announced the hosts for the previous World Cup, the
2011 competition, on 30 April 2006. Australia and New Zealand had also bid for the tournament and a successful
Australasianbid for the 2011 World Cup would have seen a 50–50 split in games, with the final still up for negotiation. The
Trans-Tasman bid, Beyond Boundaries, was the only bid for 2011 delivered to the ICC headquarters at
Dubai before 1 March deadline. Considerable merits of the bid included the superior venues and infrastructure, and the total support of the Australian and New Zealand governments on tax and custom issues during the tournament, according to
Cricket Australia chief executive
James Sutherland.
[5] The New Zealand government had also assured that the
Zimbabwean team would be allowed to take part in the tournament after political discussions about whether their team would be allowed to
tour Zimbabwe in 2005.
[6]
ICC President
Ehsan Mani said that the extra time required by the Asian bloc to hand over its bid had harmed the four-nation bid. However, when it came to the voting, the Asians won by seven votes to four; according to the
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), it was the vote of the
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that turned the matter. It was reported in Pakistani newspaper
Dawn that the Asian countries promised to hold fund-raising events for West Indian cricket during the
2007 Cricket World Cup, which may have influenced the vote.
[7] However, I.S. Bindra, chairman of the monitoring committee of the Asian bid, denied that, saying that it was their promise of extra profits of US$400 million that swung the vote in their way.
[8]
The ICC was so impressed by the efficiency of the Trans-Tasman bid that they decided to award the next World Cup, to be held in 2015, to them.
[9]
Australia and New Zealand last jointly hosted the Cricket World Cup in
1992.
Format
The tournament will feature 14 teams, the same number as the 2011 World Cup, giving associate and affiliate member nations a chance to participate.
[10]
The format is the same as the 2011 edition: 14 teams will take part in the initial stages, divided into two groups of seven; the seven teams play each other once before the top four teams from each group qualify for the quarter-finals. The format ensures that each team gets to play a minimum of six matches even if they exit in the group stage.
On 29 January 2015, ICC reinstated the use of the
Super Over in Cricket World Cup knock-out matches if the match finishes as a tie. However, if the Final match of the tournament is tied, both the finalists will announced as joint winners. The decision applies from the 2015 World Cup.
[11]
Qualification
Highlighted are the countries to participate in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Participated in qualifying process but did not qualify
Per ICC regulations, the 10
ICC full member nations qualify for the tournament automatically. Immediately after the 2011 World Cup, it was decided that the next tournament would be reduced to only feature the 10 full members.
[12] This was met with heavy criticism from a number of associate nations, especially from the
Ireland cricket team, who had performed well in 2007 and 2011. Following support shown by the ICC Cricket Committee for a qualification process,
[13] the ICC retracted their decision in June 2011 and decided that 14 teams will participate in the 2015 World Cup, including four
associate or affiliate membernations.
[14]
On 9 July 2013, as a result of a tied match against Netherlands, Ireland became the first country to qualify for the 2015 World Cup.
[17] On 4 October 2013, Afghanistan qualified for their first Cricket World Cup after beating Kenya to finish in second place behind Ireland.
[18]
Scotland defeated the United Arab Emirates in the final of the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier and both teams qualified for the last two spots in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
