The 2015 Cricket World Cup is the 11th Cricket World Cup, currently being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015. 14 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 thetrans-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 has been 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 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 scheduled on 15 February 2015, were reportedly sold out within 12 minutes.
Bids
The ICC announced the hosts for the previous World Cup, the 2011 competition, on 30 April 2006. Australia and New Zealand had also bid for the tournament and a successfulAustralasian bid for the 2011 World Cup would have seen a 50–50 split in games, with the final still up for negotiation. The Trans-Tasman bid, Beyond Boundaries, was the only bid for 2011 delivered to the ICC headquarters at Dubai before 1 March deadline. Considerable merits of the bid included the superior venues and infrastructure, and the total support of the Australian and New Zealand governments on tax and custom issues during the tournament, according to Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland.The New Zealand government had also assured that the Zimbabwean team would be allowed to take part in the tournament after political discussions about whether their team would be allowed to tour Zimbabwe in 2005.ICC President Ehsan Mani said that the extra time required by the Asian bloc to hand over its bid had harmed the four-nation bid. However, when it came to the voting, the Asians won by seven votes to four; according to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), it was the vote of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that turned the matter. It was reported in Pakistani newspaper Dawn that the Asian countries promised to hold fund-raising events for West Indian cricket during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, which may have influenced the vote. However, I.S. Bindra, chairman of the monitoring committee of the Asian bid, denied that, saying that it was their promise of extra profits of US$400 million that swung the vote in their way.
The ICC was so impressed by the efficiency of the Trans-Tasman bid that they decided to award the next World Cup, to be held in 2015, to them.
Australia and New Zealand last jointly hosted the Cricket World Cup in 1992.
Format
The tournament will feature 14 teams, the same number as the 2011 World Cup, giving associate and affiliate member nations a chance to participateThe format is the same as the 2011 edition: 14 teams will take part in the initial stages, divided into two groups of seven; the seven teams play each other once before the top four teams from each group qualify for the quarter-finals. The format ensures that each team gets to play a minimum of six matches even if they exit in the group stage.
On 29 January 2015, ICC reinstated the use of the Super Over in Cricket World Cup knock-out matches if the match finishes as a tie. However, if the Final match of the tournament is tied, both the finalists will announced as joint winners. The decision applies from the 2015 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 US$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 has been 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:
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.
Schedule For World Cup 2015
