England's rise up the ICC Test rankings and, until their recent reverse against Australia, the ODI table, has raised hopes of Andrew Strauss's men finally ending the World Cup drought. The T20 triumph was encouraging but it's not the real deal. They came close several times, beaten finalists three times and in the first six tournaments were beaten by the eventual champions on five occasions. However, since 1992 their stock has fallen and world one-day cricket has moved on, with Australia, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa dominating. Indeed, those four remain top of the ICC world rankings as the 2011 World Cup prepares for launch this week.
It all started in England in 1975 as a bit of a fun fortnight to fill the gap left by the South African sports boycott. As I have recounted in previous blogs, the home side were crushed by the Aussies at the semi-final stage, thanks largely to Gary Gilmour's left-arm swing bowling. Four years later, again on home territory, Mike Brearley led the team. Having gained revenge on the Aussies in their group and edged out New Zealand in the semis, they faced Clive Lloyd's reigning champions at Lord's. Few remained from the 1975 Final but what a side it was! Brearley won the toss and put the Windies in. Both openers were removed cheaply, but the innings was to be remembered for the 139-run partnership between Viv Richards and Collis King. For once, it wasn't Viv who dominated. King went for broke, smashing 86 from 66 balls, almost unheard of in those days. However, Richards hit an imperious 138 not out, stepping outside off stump to flick Hendrick's final ball lazily for six. I'd never seen such audacity before. Joel Garner's 5-38 ended English resistance and they would have to wait another four years.
1983 was the last World Cup to have a 60-over format and be based in England. David Gower was the tournament's top scorer but Bob Willis' side succumbed to the all-round wiles of Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath in the semis, as India progressed to beat the hot favourites West Indies in the final. In 1987 the new Cup holders played hosts for the first time but Mike Gatting's England gained revenge on Kapil Dev and co in the semis, thanks to Graham Gooch's century. Now Allan Border's Aussies stood in their way. Needing 254 to win, the innings ran out of steam and a few run-outs and tight bowling by Steve Waugh and, unexpectedly, Border himself, led to a seven-run defeat.
In 1992, the tournament moved to the southern hemisphere. It was also the first time the World Cup featured coloured clothing and day-night games, but England maintained the incredible consistency of reaching the final four yet again. Their progress wasn't quite as smooth, though, incorporating an embarrassing defeat to Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, they found themselves in the final and Gooch and Botham in particular were hoping for 'third time lucky', not only for their country but also for themselves. On this occasion, they faced Pakistan, led by 39 year-old legend Imran Khan on his final appearance in international cricket. The script went Imran's way. He top-scored with 72, Botham went for a duck, Wasim Akram was Man of the Match and England had lost again.
It was the last time England got anywhere near World Cup success. Four years later, Atherton's squad managed victories against only Holland and the United Arab Emirates yet once more lost to the eventual winners, but in a quarter-final. That year Sri Lanka introduced the concept of pinch-hitting to World Cup cricket and Jayasuriya's brutal 82 in 46 balls did for England, and Phil De Freitas and Richard Illingworth in particular.
There was to be no home-coming success in 1999. England may have regained bragging rights over Sri Lanka in the group stages but defeats to South Africa and India meant
they made no further progress. The tournament belonged to India's Dravid and Ganguly but the trophy passed to Steve Waugh's Aussies. The same team, now skippered by Ricky Ponting, retained the Cup in South Africa in a bloated tournament of 54 matches. Not that England's participation was very long. Batting collapses against India and Australia and refusal to play Zimbabwe in Harare for "safety" (i.e. political) reasons meant Nasser Hussain's team bowed out early. At least Jimmy Anderson had produced match-winning performances against the Netherlands and Pakistan. How England will need more of those this year!
Which brings me to the Caribbean in 2007. The competition was marred by more interminable meaningless matches watched by sparse crowds, and the early exits of India and Pakistan whose coach Bob Woolmer died in his hotel room in what were at the time suspicious circumstances. In the Super Eights, Kevin Pietersen stuck two centuries but defeats to Sri Lanka (narrowly), Australia and South Africa (heavily!) and while England were back in Blighty, it was a third consecutive win for the Aussies, even if the Final ended in near darkness and no floodlights!
England need to recall those close shaves early in the World Cup's history and introduce the newly-found tactics and team spirit if they are to make an impression on the 2011 tournament. With key players fit and in form, they can show that English cricket has caught up with the rest of the world. They've nothing to lose but a bit of pride!
