{"id":15086,"date":"2023-06-20T18:10:51","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T13:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/?p=15086"},"modified":"2023-06-20T18:10:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T13:10:51","slug":"icc-celebrates-50-years-of-first-ever-cricket-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/2023\/06\/20\/icc-celebrates-50-years-of-first-ever-cricket-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"ICC celebrates 50 years of first-ever Cricket World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

ICC celebrates 50 years of first-ever Cricket World Cup<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Wednesday celebrated 50th\u00a0anniversary of the start of the first-ever Cricket World Cup, the Women\u2019s World Cup that was staged in England from 20 June 1973.<\/p>\n

The anniversary marks a five-week long tribute to the tournament, building up to 28 July, the anniversary of the final match.<\/p>\n

The ICC will publish content that celebrates the event that began global games for both the women\u2019s and men\u2019s games, seeking to pay tribute to the heroes of that era, the ICC said in a press release.<\/p>\n

The tournament opener between Jamaica and New Zealand was washed out without a ball being bowled.<\/p>\n

The tournament was won by England, who beat Australia by 92 runs at Edgbaston on 28 July 1973, with the trophy presented to the winning captain, Rachel Heyhoe-Flint.<\/p>\n

The tournament featured seven teams \u2013 Australia, England, an International XI, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago, and Young England. British businessman Sir Jack Hayward\u2019s liberal sponsorship of GBP 40000 brought to life the first-ever Cricket World Cup.<\/p>\n

Having a women\u2019s World Cup before a men\u2019s world event sets cricket apart from other major global sports.<\/p>\n

To begin celebrations, the ICC has shared several photos from the event on ICC social media channels.<\/p>\n

The photos include a picture of Jamaica cricketer Paulette Lynch posing with ICC Hall of Famer Heyhoe-Flint, who features in many of the images.<\/p>\n

Several former players were delighted to share their memories of the inaugural event and what it meant to them and the game.<\/p>\n

Enid Bakewell MBE\u00a0was the tournament\u2019s leading run scorer with 264 runs for England, scoring two centuries in four innings at an average of 88.00 and a high score of 118.<\/p>\n

She said:\u00a0\u201cMy main memories of 1973 are seeing my dad with his rug over his arm coming to me after I had scored a century!<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the final had been won by England, we were presented to Princess Anne who later gave me an MBE at Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n

\u201cRachael Heyhoe-Flint was the real super woman who fought to promote the women\u2019s game. She took her ukulele to Lord\u2019s and played it outside the ground on the street to let people know that women played cricket.
\n\u201cShe was a real inspiration on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynne Thomas\u00a0was the second leading run scorer and opened the batting for England. She ended the tournament with 263 runs in four innings that included a highest score of 134, averaging 87.66.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt was a great honor for me to represent England in the first-ever World Cup in 1973. I felt I was also representing my home country, Wales, of which I am very proud. It was a hugely successful tournament played in a true sporting spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe staging of the World Cup in 1973 put a tournament format into the women\u2019s cricket calendar for the first time. It took place every four years and is still being played today. I think that its success has contributed to the forming of other women\u2019s world events such as the T20 World Cup.
\nBeing introduced to Her Royal Highness Princess Anne before the final and holding the Cup after the presentation were also major highlights.
\nI have fond memories of the happy times the team spent together. The closeness of the team members, how we blended together and the fun we had. We all enjoyed playing cricket and the friendships we formed will last forever.<\/p>\n

Louise Browne (Trinidad & Tobago captain): \u201cIt does not seem as though\u00a050 years have gone by since I was asked to lead the Trinidad and Tobago women\u2019s team to the inaugural Cricket World Cup in 1973. Four members of our squad had attended Cricket Week in Malvern (England) in 1971, but the rest of the team had not travelled beyond the Caribbean borders.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that inaugural World Cup, we placed fifth among the seven participating teams, with wins only against Young England and Jamaica. Our participation however, brought recognition to women\u2019s cricket, not only in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, but throughout the Caribbean region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a pleasure to know that women can now play cricket professionally. The franchise tournaments being established worldwide have added excitement to the game. I hope that the present players will continue to be true ambassadors for our sport, and they will represent their country or region with the passion and pride that we did. Women\u2019s cricket in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, and the world still has a long way to go, but we are on the right track.\u201d
\nMargaret Jennings (Australia): \u201cIt was the first time I had ever travelled to the UK along with most of my teammates.
\n\u201cPreviously, tours had been once every 10 years but here we were playing against the best teams in the World before\u00a0anyone else had even\u00a0thought of it.\u00a0It was such a wonderful feeling to play against different countries and provided all of us with experiences money could not buy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to Rachel Heyhoe-Flint and Sir Jack Hayward we were treated well, and\u00a0we all felt like real international cricketers in 1973.
\n\u201cThe concept of playing against all teams was one to be savoured and the final game against England where we were well and truly beaten,\u00a0didn\u2019t matter as cricket was the winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharon Tredrea (Australia): \u201cThis was the biggest thing to ever happen in women\u2019s cricket, a World Cup format, prior to the men, none of which would have occurred without the amazing work of Rachel Heyhoe-Flint and her friend, Sir Jack Hayward, who sponsored the entire tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, representing your country is such a proud moment.\u00a0To have had the opportunity to participate in this World Cup, now 50 years ago was a privilege. The competition during the World Cup was fierce, but played in a very sporting way, with a lot of respect for opponents.\u00a0This World Cup showcased the best of the best from around the world and opened the eyes of many who dismissed women\u2019s cricket.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe build-up, once we arrived in England was incredible.\u00a0It was like nothing any of us had experienced before.\u00a0Every day, news articles in the major newspapers were published, and to have the opportunity to play on major grounds in the UK was mind blowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt created a tournament that has carried on through 50 years, albeit the format changing with the times, now 50 overs not 60, but it was the catalyst for more regular international competitions and the forerunner to the game we now see, boasting professional women cricketers around the world. \u00a0I was fortunate to go on and play in three more World Cups, winning those three as a member of the Aussie team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it was bitterly disappointing to lose that first final to England, the media loved it and it provided unheard of publicity for the women\u2019s game globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

ICC Chief Executive,\u00a0Geoff Allardice\u00a0paid tributes to the pioneers of the women\u2019s game, saying: \u201cToday is not just a celebration of 50 years of the Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup, but the first-ever Cricket World Cup and gives us the opportunity to recognize the women who were pioneers of our sport. In staging the first ever Cricket World Cup, they set the foundations is place for a vibrant women\u2019s cricket landscape we enjoy today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe global growth of women\u2019s cricket is one of the ICC\u2019s six strategic priority projects. Part of this is our mission to grow the number of female cricket fans and participants in the game worldwide and deliver ICC women\u2019s events of equal standing and recognition with men\u2019s events.
\n\u201cThe launch of the ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup in 2009, the professionalization of women\u2019s cricket around the world and the exciting number of global franchises T20 leagues is the fruit of the seed that was planted by Rachel Heyhoe-Flint and her fellow players back in 1973.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sources & Courtesy: APP<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ICC celebrates 50 years of first-ever Cricket World Cup The International Cricket Council (ICC) Wednesday celebrated 50th\u00a0anniversary of the start of the first-ever Cricket World Cup, the Women\u2019s World Cup that was staged in England from 20 June 1973. The anniversary marks a five-week long tribute to the tournament, building up to 28 July, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2297,2305,2299],"tags":[2758,2775,2770],"class_list":["post-15086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-sports","category-world","tag-cricket","tag-icc","tag-world-cup"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15086"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15088,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15086\/revisions\/15088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}