Some Unique Information About World Cup 2015

The 2015 Cricket World Cup is the 11th Cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015. Fourteen teams will play 49 matches in 14 venues, with Australia staging 26 games at grounds in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney while New Zealand hosts 23 games in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington. The final match of the tournament will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The hosting rights were awarded at the same time as those of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, which Australia and New Zealand had originally bid to host, and the 2019 Cricket World Cup, which was awarded to England. The 2011 tournament was awarded to the four Asian Test cricket playing countries, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in a 10 to 3 vote (Pakistan later lost the co-hosting rights due to a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team).

The International Cricket Council were sufficiently impressed with the trans-Tasman bid that it was decided to award the next World Cup to Australia and New Zealand. This is the second time that the tournament will be held in Australia and New Zealand, with the first being the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar was named as the 2015 Cricket World Cup Ambassador by the ICC for the second time, after 2011 Cricket World Cup where he was the ambassador.

India are the defending champions, having won the tournament in 2011 when it was held in the Indian subcontinent, defeating Sri Lanka in the finals by 6 wickets. Tickets for the Pool B match between India and Pakistan, played on 15 February 2015, reportedly sold out within 12 minutes of going on sale.

Preparations:
Local organising committee
In preparation for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the organising committee of the tournament was finalised. John Harnden was named chief executive, James Strong as chairman,and Ralph Waters was named as the deputy chairman.

Allocation of matches:
When Australia and New Zealand bid for the 2011 Cricket World Cup in 2006, they said that it will see a 50–50 split in games. Finally, it was decided on 30 July 2013 that Australia would host 26 matches, while New Zealand got a share of 23 matches in the tournament. There was a tense battle between Melbourne and Sydney to host the final. On 30 July 2013, it was announced that Melbourne will host the final, with Sydney and Auckland hosting the semi-finals.

Visas:
It was announced that spectators travelling to World Cup matches in New Zealand who would otherwise not be entitled to a visa waiver, would be able to enter New Zealand if they held an Australian visitor visa. This was a special Trans-Tasman Visa Arrangement for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Media and promotion:
The World Cup has grown as a media event with each tournament. The International Cricket Council has sold the rights for broadcasting of the 2015 Cricket World Cup for $2 billion to ESPN Star Sports and Star Sports. According to Strong, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) wants to make the tournament the most fan-friendly event of its kind and take cricket to a wide range of communities throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Sachin Tendulkar was named as the 2015 Cricket World Cup Ambassador by the ICC for the second time, after 2011 Cricket World Cup where he was the official event ambassador.

Prize money:
The International Cricket Council has declared a total prize money pool of $10 million for the tournament, which is 20 percent more than the 2011 edition. The prize money will be distributed according to the performance of the team as follows:

Stage                           Prize money (US$)                             Total
Winner                             $3,975,000                                     $3,975,000
Runner-up                     $1,750,000                                     $1,750,000
Losing semi-finalists             $600,000                                     $1,200,000
Losing quarter-finalists     $300,000                                     $1,200,000
Winner of each group match $45,000                                     $1,890,000
Teams eliminated in group stage $35,000                                     $210,000
Total                                                                 $10,225,000
This means that if the winner remains undefeated throughout the group stage of the tournament, they will win a total of $4,245,000 (winner's prize plus $45,000 for each group stage win), while a team which is eliminated in the group stage without any wins will be given $35,000.

Knockout stage:
Main article: 2015 Cricket World Cup knockout stage
While the dates and venues are fixed, which match-up they host is subject to change to accommodate the host countries should they qualify. If Australia qualify for the quarter-finals, they will play in the match on 20 March in Adelaide. If Sri Lanka and England (the next two highest ranked teams) progress to the quarter-finals, they will play in Sydney and Melbourne respectively.[52] Should Sri Lanka or England fail to qualify for the quarter-finals, the team that replaces them will take their place. The teams from each pool will be paired based on the A1 v B4, A2 v B3, A3 v B2, A4 v B1 format.

If Australia qualify for the semi-finals, they will play the game on 26 March in Sydney. If New Zealand qualifies, their semi-final will be played on 24 March in Auckland. In the event of an Australia v New Zealand semi-final, the team that finished higher in Pool A will have home advantage for the match.

Controversies:
During the group stage match between Australia and England, the match ended when James Anderson was run out straight after James Taylor was given out lbw. As Taylor's decision was reviewed and overturned, the ICC later admitted that the ball should have been declared dead (according to Article 3.6a of Appendix 6 of the Decision Review System Playing Conditions), and so Anderson was incorrectly given out.

During the group stage match between Ireland and Zimbabwe, Sean Williams was given out, caught by Ireland's John Mooney while attempting a six. Replays suggested that Mooney's left leg had brushed the rope at the boundary. Zimbabwe's coach, Dav Whatmore, was livid with the decision after watching the replays.

Who is the favorite to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015?

I'll do this in descending order of favouritism:

Likely Finalists
I'd think an Australia vs India final is the most likely scenario. Australia and India are currently the top two ODI teams in the rankings. Australia's only problems are going to come through injury, although I think they've got the depth to win even if a Michael Clarke or Mitchell Johnson misses all or part of the tournament through injury.

India are going to have played a lot of cricket in Australia by the time the World Cup final rolls around, plus they have a fairly talented team. India's only problem might be if they struggle to gain momentum throughout the tournament and lose in the quarter or semi finals. (EDIT: hahaha their tri-series performance has been laughable. Probably out of the race as a likely finalist)

Not Too Far Behind
I wouldn't be surprised to see any of South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand making the semi finals (I know only four teams can!). South Africa and Sri Lanka are the two teams behind Australia and India, while New Zealand often performs well at World Cups and has a home ground advantage for most of their games.

Hanging in There
While both of these teams have the potential to win, I highly doubt they will. England's team is in a bit of turmoil following the dumping of Alastair Cook and I don't think the air will have cleared in time to realistically challenge for the World Cup. Pakistan probably won't worry the likes of Australia, India, South Africa, etc.

Outsiders
The West Indies probably don't deserve to be so out of contention, but it looks like they'll be taking an under strength squad into the tournament. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh don't trouble the more highly ranked teams too much, although I wouldn't discount a couple of upsets.

Completely Out of the Race
Afghanistan's rise up the ODI rankings (they weren't even a team 13 years ago) is something to be amazed by, but I think they're still outsiders when it comes to doing well at a World Cup (relative to other teams). I would wait and see how Afghanistan is going in 2019 - with a bit of luck they could potentially make the quarter finals then.

Ireland could probably expect to beat England (The Poms have a knack of losing to them) if they were in England's group, but alas, they are not. Ireland might be able to upset Pakistan, the West Indies or Zimbabwe, and it's likely they'll beat the UAE

Scotland has slipped down the rankings a bit in recent years and so I doubt they'll be able to win, although they could always upset England. Afghanistan, the only other associate member in Group A, will probably beat them.


The UAE have won a single World Cup game, from their previous appearance in 1996. Unless they beat Ireland, which I don't think they will, I think they'll probably finish this tournament winless.