2007 ICC Cricket World Cup
Logo of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup
Administrator(s)	International Cricket Council
Cricket format	One Day International
Tournament format(s)	Round robin and Knockout
Host	West Indies
Champions	Australia (4th title)
Participants	16 (from 97 entrants)
Matches played	51
Attendance	672,000 (13,176 per match)
Player of the series	Glenn McGrath
Most runs	Matthew Hayden (659)
Most wickets	Glenn McGrath (26)

The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was a men's cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2003 World Cup (despite a field larger by two teams).

The 16 competing teams were initially divided into four groups, with the two best-performing teams from each group moving on to a "Super 8" format. From this, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa won through to the semi-finals, with Australia defeating Sri Lanka in the final to win their third consecutive World Cup. Australia's unbeaten record in this year's tournament increased their total to 29 consecutive World Cup matches without loss, a streak dating back to 23 May 1999, during the group stage of the 1999 World Cup.

Host selection

World Cup 2007s Venues in the West Indies.

The World Cup was awarded to the West Indies via the International Cricket Council's rotational policy. It is the first time the Cricket World Cup has been held in the Caribbean despite the fact that the West Indies cricket team have been the second most successful team in past World Cups.^[1]

The United States contingent lobbied strongly for matches to be staged at its newly built cricket ground in Lauderhill, Florida, but the ICC decided to award all matches to Caribbean nations. Bids from Bermuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and a second bid by Jamaica were also rejected.

Venues

Eight venues across the West Indies were selected to host the World Cup final tournament. All host countries hosted six matches with the exceptions of St Lucia, Jamaica and Barbados (the last of which hosted the final) which each hosted seven matches.

The stadium capacities shown are all seated capacities.

Four additional venues hosted warm-up matches.

The Jamaican Government spent US$81 million for "on the pitch" expenses.^[8] This included refurbishing Sabina Park and constructing the new multi-purpose facility in Trelawny - through a loan from China. Another US$20 million is budgeted for 'off-the-pitch' expenses, putting the tally at more than US$100 million or JM$7 billion.

This put the reconstruction cost of Sabina Park at US$46 million whilst the Trelawny Stadium will cost US$35 million.^[9][10] The total amount of money spent on stadiums was at least US$301 million.

The Brian Lara Stadium, in Trinidad, lost its status as a pre-tournament warm-up match venue on 21 September 2006.^[11]

Qualification

The captains of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

See also: 2007 Cricket World Cup qualification and 2007 Cricket World Cup squads

The field of sixteen teams, the largest ever for the Cricket World Cup, consists of all sixteen teams which currently hold One Day International status. This includes the ten full members of the ICC (which all have Test & permanent ODI status):

The other six (associate) ODI nations are Kenya (which has ODI status until 2009) and five further teams which qualified via the 2005 ICC Trophy (gaining ODI status until 2009, in the process):

Media coverage

Mello

The World Cup has grown as a media event with each tournament. The sponsorship and television rights that were awarded primarily to cover the 2003 and 2007 World Cups raised over US$550 m.^[12] The 2007 World Cup was televised in over 200 countries to a viewing audience estimated at more than two billion television viewers and was expected to generate more than 100,000 unique visitors to the West Indies who traveled solely for the tournament.^[13][14]

The 2007 Cricket World Cup featured an orange raccoon-like creature named "Mello" as its mascot. It has been announced during matches that Mello has no race, species, age or gender- it is an attitude, the attitude of the young people of the West Indies. The official song for the World Cup was "The Game of Love and Unity" by Jamaican-born Shaggy, Bajan entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Faye-Ann Lyons.

The 2007 tournament recorded the highest ticketing revenue for a Cricket World Cup, selling more than 672,000.^[15] Although, attendance leading into the semi finals for the 2007 World Cup was 403,000; an average of 8,500 supporters per match.^[16]

Leadup

All major Test-playing nations had schedules allowing them to play a large number of One Day International against other major ODI teams just prior to the World Cup. Australia, New Zealand and England took part in the Commonwealth Bank Series where England defeated Australia in the finals. Australia then went to New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, losing 3-0. South Africa played five ODIs against India (South Africa won 4-0) and five against Pakistan (South Africa won 3-1) while India also played four ODIs against the West Indies (India won 3-1) and four ODIs against Sri Lanka (India won 2-1). Bangladesh played four ODIs against Zimbabwe (Bangladesh won 3-1) and won a tri-series against Canada and Bermuda. The associate ODI teams took part in the World Cricket League, which Kenya won, and were also involved in other series prior to the World Cup.

The rankings of the teams at the beginning of the Cricket World Cup were:

Note:Teams 12-16 did not have official ODI rankings leading up to the World Cup; they are ranked based on their win percentage against full members and then wins against associate members prior to the tournament.^[17]

Warm-up matches

Main article: 2007 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches

Prior to the main tournament all 16 nations played a series of warm-up matches to prepare, experiment with different tactics and to help them get acclimated to conditions in the West Indies. The warm-up matches were not considered as official ODIs.^[18] The matches were played from Monday 5 March until Friday 9 March. The matches included a surprise victory by Bangladesh over New Zealand.

Opening ceremony

Alison Hinds performing during the ceremony.

The Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony was held on Sunday, 11 March 2007, at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica.[1]

It featured over 2000 dancers and performers representing all strands of West Indian music, from calypso and ragga to reggae and soca; among the performers were Sean Paul, Byron Lee, Kevin Lyttle, Beres Hammond, Lucky Dube, Buju Banton, Half Pint, Arrow, Machel Montano, Alison Hinds, Tony Rebel, Third World, Gregory Isaacs, David Rudder, Shaggy, the I Threes and Jimmy Cliff.

The ceremony, attended by several heads of state including the Governor-General of Jamaica started with an address by Sir Garfield Sobers; there were messages from the Prime Ministers of Jamaica and Grenada.

Rules and regulations

Matches

All matches were held from 0930 to 1715 local time. The first innings were held from 0930 to 1300 and the second innings were held from 1345 to 1715. For all venues other than Jamaica, local time was UTC-4, while Jamaican venues had local time UTC-5.

The matches were One Day Internationals and operated under normal ODI rules. All matches were to be 50 overs a side unless stated otherwise by the umpires or match referee. A bowler was able to bowl a maximum of 10 overs per match.

In the event of bad weather, each side must have batted a minimum of 20 overs for a result to be declared (if the match was not otherwise won, for example if the team batting second was dismissed before the completion of 20 overs). In the event of bad weather, the Duckworth-Lewis method was applied to determine the result or target. If no result was declared on the scheduled day, the teams returned the next day to complete the game, with the same situation as when the game was abandoned.

There was a new rule regarding referral of catches to the TV replay official (third umpire): if the standing umpires were unable to determine whether a catch had been taken cleanly, and/or whether a claimed catch was a "bump ball", they had discretion to refer the decision to the third umpire. Also, whilst reviewing such a catch via TV replay if it was clear to the third umpire that the batsman did not hit the ball, he was to indicate that the batsman was not out.^[19]

Tournament points

In the Group Stage and in the Super 8 Stage points were awarded as follows:

The top two teams from each group advanced to the Super 8 stage and any points they earned against the other qualifier from their own group was carried through. Points earned against the non qualifying teams in the same pool were not carried over. In the Super 8s, each team played the six remaining qualifiers from the other groups and the top four teams went through to the semi-finals. Positions were decided by most points. Where two or more teams were tied on points, the following methods in turn were used to decide which team went through:^[19]

1. Most wins in their group or in Super 8 whichever is applicable
2. Higher net run rate
3. Higher number of wickets taken per ball
4. Winners of head to head matches
5. The drawing of lots

Groups

Seeds

The tournament began with a league stage consisting of four groups of four. Each team played each of the other teams in its group once. Australia, India, England and West Indies were placed in separate pools for logistical reasons, as they were expected to have the most supporters in attendance, and transport and accommodation capacity in the West Indies is limited.^[20]

The groups are listed below, with seedings (rankings from April 2005) shown in brackets. Each group played all of its matches at a single ground.

System

The tournament was preceded by a number of warm-up matches to acclimatise the players. The Group Stage matches started on Tuesday 13 March and finished on Sunday 25 March. There were a total of 24 matches played in the group stage.

The top two teams in each group proceeded to the "Super 8" stage which will also use a league system. Each team carried forward its result against the other team qualifying from its preliminary stage group, and will play the other six qualifying teams once each. The top four teams in the league will qualify for the semi-finals. This system has been modified since the last World Cup, which had a "Super 6" stage rather than a Super 8. The Super 8 stage matches will be played from Tuesday 27 March until Saturday 21 April. A total of 24 matches will be played in the Super 8 stage.

The top four teams in the "Super 8" will advance to the Semi-Finals. This is the knockout stage, with the #1 team playing the #4 team, and the #2 team playing the #3 team in the tournament. The winners of the two semi-finals will play each other in the Final.

All tournament matches will have one reserve day (the day after the scheduled day of the match) to allow for matches to be completed in the event of bad weather.

Group Stage

Main article: 2007 Cricket World Cup group stage

Group A

All matches start at 1330 UTC.

Group B

All matches start at 1330 UTC.

Group C

All matches start at 1330 UTC.

Group D

All matches start at 1430 UTC.

Super 8 stage

Main article: 2007 Cricket World Cup Super Eight stage

The top two teams in each first-round group moved on to a "super eight" stage which is scored as a complete round-robin. But each of the eight teams played only six new matches, rather than seven— each group's two representatives carried forward their result against each other rather than play again. Thus the table below, showing seven matches for each team, covers all matches between the Super 8 qualifiers, including those from the Group Stage.

Teams depicted in green backgrounds qualified for the semi-finals.

Abbreviations:

Super 8 Matchup by Teams

Matches

All matches start at 1330 UTC.