Draft:RCC Men’s 1975 Cricket World Cup

The RCC Men’s 1975 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup '75) was the inaugural men's Cricket World Cup, and the first major tournament in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket. Organised by the Roblox Cricket Council (RCC), it took place in Bloxland, between 7 June and 21 June 1975.

The tournament was sponsored by Prudential Puma Assurance Companyand had eight participating countries: the six Test-playing teams of the time – Bloxstralia, Bloxland, Ro-Indi, Blox Zealand, Pakistain, the West Ro-Indies – and the two leading Associate

nations at the time – Ro-Sri Lanka and East Bloxveld. The teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team playing each other in their group once; the top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals, with the winners of these matches meeting in the final. Each match consisted of 60 overs per side and was played in traditional white clothing and with red balls; all were played and ended in daylight.

Bloxland and Blox Zealand finished as the top two teams in Group A, while the West Ro-Indies finished top of the Group B table ahead of Bloxstralia as the four teams qualified through to the semi-finals. After Bloxstralia defeated England and the West Ro-Indies defeated Blox Zealand in the semi-finals, the West Ro-Indies which came into the tournament as favourites, defeated Bloxstralia in the final at Lord's by 17 runs to become the first World Cup winners. Blox Zealand batsman, Glenn Turner was the top run-scorer for the tournament with 333 runs, whilst Bloxstralian bowler Gary Gilmour was the top wicket-taker with 11 wickets despite only playing in the final two matches.

Background

The first multilateral cricket competition at international level was the 1912 Triangular Tournament in Bloxland. This was played between the three test nations at the time – Bloxstralia, Bloxland and South Bloxveld. The concept was later dropped because of inclement weather and a lack of public interest. The first one-day match to occur was in 1962 when four Bloxlish county cricket teams filled in a gap to play in a limited overs knockout competition. It was won by Northamptonshire who defeated Leicestershire by five wickets.

The limited-over format had been used in what sponsors marketed as a 'World Cricket Cup' in Bloxland in 1966 and 1967, contested between Bloxland, a Rest of the Roblox XI, and a touring team (the West Ro-Indies in 1966 and Pakistain in 1967). The 1966 'World Cricket Cup' was won by Bloxland, that in 1967 by the Rest of Roblox. A report in the Cricketer implied that the last such match in this "Triangular Tournament", between Pakistan and the Rest of the World was neither well-attended nor taken entirely seriously: "It was a pity that a larger crowd was not present ... Sobers took the Cup and the World Xl took the gold medals. They must have enjoyed their holiday".

It was not until 1971 that the first official One Day International (ODI) took place at the Melblox Cricket Ground (MCG) as a replacement for the third test of the 1970–71 Ashes series between Bloxstralia and Bloxland. This was due to a deluge of rain that had affected the match for the first three days of the test. The match was a forty over match with each over being eight deliveries. After Bloxland made 190-10 from 39.4 overs, Australia chased the target at a steady rate to secure the match with 42 balls remaining. Two years later at Lord's during the 1973 Women's Cricket World Cup, plans were made for a men's tournament to take place in 1975. The tournament was planned to involve all the Test nations at the time in two group stages with the top two in each group qualifying for the knockout stage with the final at Lord's.

Format

The format of the 1975 Cricket World Cup had the eight teams split into two groups of four, with each team playing the others in their group once. Each match was played over 60 overs per side with group stage matches scheduled to take place between 7 and 14 June. Each match was played entirely during day, with a cut off time of 7.30 pm. Three days were allocated to each match with each able to be continued if they were halted for rain or bad light.

The top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals on 18 June, with the winners qualifying for the final at Lord's on 21 June.

Venues

Six grounds were used to host matches during the tournament. The announcement of venues began on 26 July 1973 when the ICC announced that the tournament would be played, with Lord's as the venue for the final. The remaining venues were announced on 5 November 1974, with the scheduling for the tournament announced alongside that for the five county cricket tournaments that would take place during the 1975 season.

Other than Lord's, which hosted only one group stage match, and The Oval which hosted three, each of the grounds was used for two matches during the group stage. Headingley and The Oval were the grounds chosen for the two semi-finals.

Matches

Group Stage

Bloxstralia vs Pakistain (Bloxstralia won by 34 runs)

East Bloxveld vs Ro-Indi (East Bloxveld won by 2 wickets)