World Cup Cricket

The Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International (ODI) cricket. The International Cricket Council (ICC) organize this great event on earth. ICC is the international governing body of cricket. Firstly it was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989. Starting with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years. The tournament is the world's third largest and most viewed sporting event. According to the ICC, it is the most important tournament and the pinnacle of achievement in the sport. The first Cricket World Cup contest was organised in England in 1975. A separate Women's Cricket World Cup has been held every four years since 1973.

The final tournaments of the Cricket World Cup are generally contested by all ten Test-playing and ODI-playing nations. They play together with other nations that qualify through the World Cup Qualifier. Australia the king of Cricket(ODI) has been the most successful of the five teams to have won the tournament, taking four titles. The West Indies have won twice, while India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have each won once.

The organizer of World Cup Tournament i.e. ICC has 104 member nations, out of which 10 are Full member. They are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe. Again out of 104 members 34 Associate Members, and 60 Affiliate Members. Only the Full member can play official Test Match. The ICC is responsible for the organisation and governance of cricket's major international tournaments, most notably the Cricket World Cup. ICC also appoints the umpires and referees that officiate at all sanctioned Test matches, One Day International and Twenty20 Internationals. It promulgates the ICC Code of Conduct, which sets professional standards of discipline for international cricket, and also co-ordinates action against corruption and match-fixing through its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU). The ICC does not control bilateral fixtures between member countries (which include all test matches), it does not govern domestic cricket in member countries, and it does not make the laws of the game, which remain under the control of the Marylebone Cricket Club.

ICC also looks for the security conditions of players to give them fearless, safe and better cricket atmosphere. Due to this David Morgan the President of ICC has dropped the name of Pakistan from the organizer list of 2011 World Cup Cricket. Before that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were announced as organizer of 2011 World Cup Cricket. David Morgan before he was elected as President of ICC, he was the Chairman of England and Wales Cricket Board. He will play the role of President upto 2010, then he will be replaced by Sharad Pawar, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The current CEO is Haroon Lorgat.

David Morgan told to BBC on Pakistan issue. “I believe the world cup will be staged in the Indian subcontinent. How much of it, if any, will be staged in Pakistan remains to be seen. I think it’s too early (to tell) - there could be a regime change in Pakistan which would settle things down. But the probability must be that a great deal will have to change in Pakistan before we can [contemplate] playing international cricket there. It’s terribly, terribly sad. Somebody had said cricketers would never be targeted in Pakistan, and unfortunately that has been proved to be incorrect. My first thoughts are that it will be very difficult for international cricket to be hosted in Pakistan for quite some time to come”

Qualification for World Cup

The ICC mentioned that the nations who play the Test-match and ODI (Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, India, West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe) under ICC they all are qualify for ICC World Cup Cricket finals. While the other nations have to qualify through a series of preliminary qualifying tournaments. Under the current qualifying process, the World Cricket League, all 91 Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC are able to qualify for the World Cup. Associate and Affiliate members must play between two and five stages in the ICC World Cricket League to qualify for the World Cup finals, depending on the Division in which they start the qualifying process.

Trophy

The winners of the World Cup final is awarded with ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy. The World Cup Trophy is made from a mixture of Silver and Gild. The World Cup Trophy and features a golden globe held up by three silver columns. The columns, shaped as stumps and bails, represent the three fundamental aspects of cricket: batting, bowling and fielding, while the globe characterises a cricket ball. The trophy is designed with platonic dimensions, so that it can be easily recognised from any angle. It stands 60 cm high and weighs approximately 11 kilograms. The names of the previous winners are engraved on the base of the trophy, with space for a total of twenty inscriptions.

The current World Cup Trophy was created for the 1999 championships, and was the first permanent prize in the tournament's history and this trophy was designed and produced in London by a team of craftsmen from Garrard & Co over a period of two months. Before this, different trophies were made for each World Cup. The original trophy is kept by the ICC. A replica, which differs only in the inscriptions, is permanently awarded to the winning team.