THE 1975 WORLD CUP-only England was prepared to put forward the resources necessary for the inaugural one-day world championship.The tournament was sponsored by Prudential Assurance.Only eight teams at this time took part in the tournament.The finals featured West Indies and Australia and what an exciting final it turned out to be.West Indies batted first and made 291/8 with Clive Lloyd scoring,to date,the fastest century.Australia could only muster 274 in return and this left West Indies with the trophy and the unbreakable record of becoming the first ever team to win a Cricket World Cup.

THE 1979 WORLD CUP-England once again hosted the tournament and Prudential Assurance were once again the sponsors.The teams featured were England,Australia,West Indies,Sri Lanka,Canada,India,Pakistan and New Zealand.England and West Indies dominated the tournament and both qualified for the finals.Here,England were trounced by ninety two runs and this left West Indies as champions again.

THE 1983 WORLD CUP-this tournament saw the rise of India.Before the World Cup started,India were seen as underdogs while the West Indies were the favourites to win for an unprecendented third time. What eneded up happening was that India defeated Australia in the group phase,England in the semi-finals and West Indies in the finals.The three power houses of cricket at that time were defeated by a rising team.Kapil Dev was the captain of this rising power in cricket.

THE 1987 WORLD CUP-for the first time,the tournament was not hosted by England.India and Pakistan combined to host it.Eight teams participated in a tournament which saw Zimbabwe making its first appearance.The hosts managed to make it to the semi-finals but were eliminated by England and Australia.The fianls between these two teams turned out to be a thriller. Australia made 253/5 but England fell seven runs short when they made 248.Australia finally won the title they most craved.

THE 1992 WORLD CUP-this one saw the intorduction of coloured clothing,the use of the white ball and some of the matches being played under floodlights.Australia was the scene of this tournament.South Africa was welcomed back into the cricketing arena and every team had to play each other once in a league format with the top four qualifying for the semi-finals.The surprise of the tournament turned out to be Pakistan who,after losing quite a few matches early on in the tournament,went on to qualify for the semi-finals.There,they defeated New Zealand and advanced to the finals where they met England.Pakistan went on to defeat them and Imran Khan became the first captain of Pakistan to hold the prestigous trophy.

THE 1996 WORLD CUP-This one turned out to be extremely financially successful.Pakistan,India and Sri Lanka hosted this tournament and twelve teams were invited to participate.Sadly,the tournament was riddled with controversy when Australia and West Indies refused to go to Sri Lanka to play because of fear of terrorist attack.Also,there were complaints from many teams about the amount of travelling that had to be done to get to one venue to the next.Despite these problems,the tournament showed that the minnows of cricket should not be underestimated when West Indies suffered a defeat to Kenya.The finals witnessed Australia playing Sri Lanka.Sri Lankan capatain defied the history of the tournament finals,where no team has ever won batting second and second,by sending in Australia to bat first.Australia made 241/7.Sri Lanka replied and won the match when they made 245/3.

THE 1999 WORLD CUP-this one saw the tournament returning to England.The tournament turned out to be a tame one with Australia crushing Pakistan in the finals.