The first ever Cricket World Cup was organised for women in 1973 by the English Women's Cricket Association, based on an idea by cricketer Rachel Heyhoe Flint and businessman Jack Hayward.[1] After the success of the Women's Cricket World Cup, the men's tournament took place two years later.[2]
Seven teams competed in the inaugural tournament in England which took place over five and a half weeks. Each ODI match was 60 overs and every team played each other in a round-robin league format.[3] Subsequent tournaments were hampered by lack of funds for women's teams meaning that their scheduling for many years was inconsistent.[4] The 1997 World Cup was the first to be played with 50 overs and a knock-out stage.[5]
Since the inaugural tournament, there have been a total of 12 World Cups with the 13th planned for 2025 in India. Australia have won the most World Cups, having won 7 out of the 12 tournaments. Several important records have been set at the Women's World cup, including the first 400+ score in ODI cricket and the first ODI double century, both of which predate the records in men's ODIs.[6]
Team notation
Batting notation
Bowling notation
Recent records
The win percentage excludes no results; a tie counts as half a win. Doesn't include forfeited matches.
As well as these narrow victories, there have been three matches where the scores finished level, two in the 1982 World Cup and one in the 1997 World Cup.[14]
An extra is a run scored by a means other than a batter hitting the ball. Other than runs scored off the bat from a no-ball, a batter is not given credit for extras and the extras are tallied separately on the scorecard and count only towards the team's score.
A further 9 players have made 50+ four times in a tournament.
The World Cup has been held in India, England and New Zealand three times each. As many of New Zealand's grounds have multiple fields, they dominate the list. However, even when those fields are considered as separate grounds, they still take places 3 in the top 5.
Additionally, Shaun George has umpired in three World Cup finals (2005, 2013 and 2017), more than any other umpire.[123][124]
The inclusion of Young England, the International XI, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in the early years of the tournament meant that players who would otherwise have been eligible to represent their national teams played for others in the World Cup. However, only a handful also appeared for those teams at another World Cup.
The only player to represent two national teams is Nicola Payne who played for the Netherlands for 10 years and for 4 for New Zealand, which meant she appeared at 4 World Cups in total.[127][128]
A total of 94 players aged 19 years old or under have made an appearance in the World Cup[138] and 10 players aged more than 40 have played in the competition.[139]
Susan Goatman captained Young England for their 6 matches at the 1973 World Cup and then captained England for their 13 matches at the 1982 World Cup, which give her a total of 19 captaincies.[153]