As 10 best teams in world cricket prepare to meet for the world’s biggest cricketing extravaganza, Omkar Paranjape takes you down memory lane to look at the evolution of the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy
The Cricket World Cup returns to England as one of the most lucrative and most watched events in all of sport. The tournament is now the third biggest stand-alone World Championship in any sport, below football and rugby, according to statistics provided by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It will generate about £400 million for the ICC in broadcasting rights alone.
When Clive Lloyd lifted the trophy in the first World Cup final at Lord’s in 1975, his team shared £4,000 in prize money. This time, the winning side will share £3.2 million--an indication of how much the tournament has changed over its 11 editions.
Befitting ICC’s riches, the winner’s trophy is made from silver, gold and precious gems. The ICC World Cup trophy features a golden globe shaped like a cricket ball with a seam going around it. A slight slant of the seam representing the axial tilt of the earth further marries the concepts of ‘cricket’ and ‘world’.
The globe is held up by three silver columns shaped as stumps and bails which is meant to represent the three fundamental aspects of cricket: batting, bowling and fielding. There’s a hardwood base upon which winners’ names are inscribed.
The winner of each edition takes home a replica of the trophy, while the perpetual trophy is taken back to the ICC headquarters in the UAE. The replicas have very minor differences.
What’s in the name?
One will be surprised to know that the World Cup trophy was named after the sponsors before World Cup 1999. The first three editions of World Cup was held in England and Wales which was known as Prudential World Cups, as UK-based financial company Prudential plc sponsored the tournament that time.
The trophies were identical in all three world cups which was lifted by Clive Lloyd for the West Indies in 1975 and 1979, and in 1983 it was lifted by Kapil Dev following India’s maiden triumph.
The Prudential Cup trophy was re-awarded to the Indian team in 2008, which won it in Cricket World Cup 1983. Prudential presented the trophy again to India to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of the famous win.
The World Cup tournament in 1987 was held for the first in Indian sub-continent which was sponsored by Reliance and hence it was known as Reliance World Cup. Allan Border of Australia lifted the World Cup trophy in 1987.
In 1992, the World Cup took place in Australia and New Zealand which was known as Benson and Hedges Cup as this company was the sponsor for the World Cup. This trophy was made out of crystals and remains the only trophy to have no metal at all.
In 1996 the World Cup again took place in sub-continent which featured 12 teams for the first time and introduced the quarterfinals. This trophy was known as Wills World Cup which was lifted by Arjuna Ranatunga as Sri Lanka won their maiden title.
The ICC makes its mark!
Finally, after 24 years, ICC came up with its own World Cup Trophy in 1999. They introduced their unique and permanent trophy in ICC World Cup 1999. The trophy that time was designed by a team of craftsmen from London-based Garrard and Co who completed the job in two months. Since then ICC has named World Cup Trophy by its own name.
The ICC World Cup in 1999, 2003 and 2007 was an Australian hat-trick. India, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni won the World Cup for the second time in the year 2011. Australia won the World Cup 2015 under the leadership of Michael Clarke.
The final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played on July 14 at Lord’s, London. This year 10 teams will face each other in Round Robin format where top 4 will qualify for semi-finals. The ICC World Cup 1992 was also played in the same format which was won by Pakistan under the captaincy of Imran Khan.
