The 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is ready to begin soon. It will be the 12th edition of the ODI Cricket World Cup which England and Wales will host from 30th May to 14th July.
In the long Cricket World Cup history, there is a long list of interesting facts about this tournament.
Here we are talking about the top five interesting facts about the Cricket World Cup history
1. Inaugural Men’s Cricket World Cup happened after the inaugural Women’s Cricket World Cup
Surprisingly, the Women’s Cricket World Cup was introduced in 1973, two years ahead of the Men’s Cricket World Cup. The inaugural Men’s Cricket World Cup happened in 1975. Since then, we have seen 11 editions of the Men’s and Women’s Cricket World Cup till 2018.
The upcoming 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will be the 12th edition of the tournament. Meanwhile, the 2021 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will also be the 12th edition of their tournament/
2. Double toss in the final of 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup
In the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), a bizarre incident happened at the very beginning. Ahead of the first ball of that match, the toss occurred not once but twice.
Indian captain MS Dhoni spun the coin and the Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara had to call on that coin toss. After the first coin toss completion, the match referee Jeff Crowe said that he hadn’t heard Sangakkara’s call. While it resulted in the heads, that coin toss was ultimately voided.
So, the coin toss happened for the second time in that final match, and this time Sangakkara won the toss, who called heads. After winning that toss, Sangakkara decided to bat first.
3. The only player to win a world cup without playing an international match
Indian cricketer Sunil Valson is the only lucky player who wins a Cricket World Cup without playing an international match. He was in the 14-member Team India squad during the 1983 Cricket World Cup. While India won that tournament, Valson never made his international cricket debut.
In domestic cricket, Sunil Valson played for Delhi and Railways. He was a left-arm medium pacer who played 75 first-class matches and 22 List A matches.
4. Father represented one member and son represented another member in Cricket World Cup history
Father Don Pringle played for East Africa in 1975 Cricket World Cup. Meanwhile, the son, Derek Pringle played the 1987 and 1992 Cricket World Cups, both for England.
At the age of 43-year-old, Don Pringle played two matches in the 1975 Cricket World Cup. It was also his only two matches in the international career. Sadly, in October 1975, he lost his life due to a car accident. He was a right-arm pacer.
Like his father, Derek Pringle was also a right-arm pacer. He played a total of 11 matches in the Cricket World Cup history, who represented England in 1987 and 1992 CWC. Incidentally, England finished both those years as the runners-up.
5. The only player to represent two Full members in Cricket World Cup history
Till the date, Kepler Wessels is the only player to represent two different Full members in Cricket World Cup history. In 1983 Cricket World Cup, Wessels played three matches for Australia.
On the other hand, Wessels led South Africa in nine matches in the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Anderson Cummins (for West Indies in 1992, for Canada in 2007), Ed Joyce (for England in 2007, for Ireland in 2011 and 2015) and Eoin Morgan (for Ireland in 2007, for England in 2011 and 2015 and also ready for the 2019) have also represented two ICC Members in CWC history but both were not the Full Members.