I remember being very excited about the inaugural cricket World Cup back in 1975. One-day internationals had been going for more than four years yet prior to the opening game of this competition there had been only eighteen official ODIs played anywhere in the world.
In those days, the preferred length was sixty overs a side, the same as in England's domestic Gillette Cup competition. The Prudential World Cup was scheduled to take place in just a fortnight in an English June, with two groups of four teams, the top two in each proceeding to semi-finals then a final. None of the seemingly endless series of groups, Super Sixes, etc, payed over five to six weeks that you get now. The six recognised Test teams at the time - England, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and the West Indies - were joined by Sri Lanka and East Africa (represented mainly by Asian-born players). South Africa had been due to tour England that summer but the boycott put an end to the Test series. The World Cup was introduced in part to fill a gap but it was to be prove so popular that it sparked something that has become one of the biggest global team competitions on the planet.
I was a huge fan of Caribbean cricket at the time, and the West Indies were undoubtedly the most exciting cricketing nation around. With stroke-makers like Clive Lloyd, the new captain, a 23 year-old Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharran, they were always exhilarating to watch batting. While their formidable pace battery had yet to take shape, Andy Roberts was already one of the most feared fast bowlers in the world, and had the support of Keith Boyce, Bernard Julien and the veteran Vanburn Holder. Australia boasted the new superstar duo of Lillee and Thomson, plus the Chappell brothers, Doug Walters and 'keeper-batsman Rod Marsh. These were the two teams most likely to succeed, but the home nation were also optimistic, having the most experience in this form of cricket.
It all began on 7th June with a real oddity as England hosted India at Lord's. A century by Dennis Amiss and a late-innings blitz by Chris Old took England to an impressive 334-4 from he sixty overs. India then delivered an extraordinarily slow response, apparently making no attempt to win. Sunil Gavaskar, already a bit of a legend, carried his bat for a mighty 36 not out. Yes, 36 not out, hitting just one boundary from 174 balls faced! Quite what the tactics were, I don't know. Bore the English bowlers to death? In those days, there was only one televised game and three others took place at the same time. While New Zealand were making mincemeat of East Africa, the Windies did the same to Sri Lanka and the Aussies made short work of Pakistan.
In the next round of games, a Keith Fletcher hundred helped England beat the Kiwis, Gavaskar was in a friskier mood against East Africa, Sri Lanka pushed the Aussies harder than might have been anticipated and a tenth-wicket partnership of 64 enabled the West Indies to recover from what looked like certain defeat to beat Pakistan with two balls to spare! Three days later, there were few surprises, although West Indies put one over Australia, bowling them out for under 200 and reaching the target with ease.
The two semi-finals played on 18th June were unexpectedly one-sided contests. The West Indies bowlers were again dominant, this time against New Zealand, while at Headingley, it was he previously unheralded Australian left-arm swing bowler Gary Gilmour who tore England's batting to shreds with a sensational 6-14 in 12 overs. The Aussies also struggled until Gilmour again steadied the ship to win by four wickets.
That set the scene for the final that most of the world wanted to see: Australia v West Indies. Lillee and Thomson vs Lloyd and Richards; Roberts and Boyce vs Greg and Ian Chappell. Bring it on, I thought. It was to be one of the most memorable games in history which left a real mark on me personally, and it deserves a blog of its own....
