Women s Cricket World Cup

The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of women's One Day International cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was originally administered by the International Women's Cricket Council until the two associations merged in 2005. The first tournament was held in England in 1973, two years before the first men's tournament.

Participation in the tournament has varied through the eight competitions: fifteen different teams have played, but only Australia, England and New Zealand have appeared in every tournament. India have appeared in all but two of the competitions, and these four teams are the only ones to have appeared in the final of the competition. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Young England have all appeared in just one tournament: in each case, the first competition, in 1973.

YEAR	VENUE	WINNER	RUNNER-UP
1973	England	England	Australia
1978	India	Australia	England
1982	New Zealand	Australia	England
1988	Australia	Australia	England
1993	England	England	New Zealand
1997	India	Australia	New Zealand
2000	New Zealand	New Zealand	Australia
2005	South Africa	Australia	India
2009	Australia	England	New Zealand

1973 - England

Winner: England

Runner-up: Australia

Teams: 7

The inaugural Women's World Cup in 1973 was a seven-team round robin event, between England, Australia, an International XI, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago and Young /England. Funded by Sir Jack Hayward, a wealthy English benefactor living in the Bahamas, the tournament lasted six weeks and was played across the UK as far afield as Hove, York, Liverpool and Swansea.

The tournament got off to a damp start, with rain postponing the first ever scheduled match between Jamaica and New Zealand, and the first completed match saw Australia defeat England's Young Women by seven wickets as the youngsters made just 57 all out.

The first centurions in the history of the competition were England's Enid Bakewell and Lynne Thomas, who both compiled centuries against an International Women's XI, while Glenys Page had the first five-wicket haul in the competition when she took 6-20 against Trinidad and Tobago. Although England lost to New Zealand in the round robin stages, they were clearly the strongest side along with Australia in the competition and it was no surprise that it went down to the final game of the competition between the two sides at Edgbaston in Birmingham to decide the winner of the event.

After winning the toss, Rachel Heyhoe-Flint's England side batted first and posted an impressive 279-3 in 60 overs, the highest score of the tournament, with Enid Bakewell, who came to be regarded as one of the greatest English players of all time, making 118. In reply, Australia lost regular wickets and fell well short of its target reaching 187-9 off 60 overs handing England victory in the tournament. 

1978 - India

Winner: Australia

Runner-up: England

Teams: 4 

The Women's World Cup in 1978 was a four team 50-over tournament between Australia, England, India and New Zealand. The event had been due to be played in South Africa, but anti-apartheid sanctions meant that the two-week tournament was switched to India. Played on a round-robin basis, the event was only six games and didn't even have a Final. The tournament began on New Year's Day and Australia defeated New Zealand by 77 runs, while England cruised to a nine-wicket win over the hosts after India had made just 63 all out. In the next set of matches, New Zealand cantered to a 9-wicket defeat over India, while Australia also comprehensively defeated the hosts.

Knowing that two consecutive wins would seal the Women's World Cup for the second occasion, 4-29 from Jacqueline Court set England on the way to a seven-wicket triumph over New Zealand. Once again, Australia and England were left playing the decisive game and the last group match had effectively become a final. Batting first, England had a disaster making just 96-8 in 50 overs as they struggled to come to terms with the Australian attack. Opening bowler Sharon Tredrea took 4-25, while off-break bowler Peta Verco and medium pacer Sharyn Hill also took two wickets. In reply skipper Margaret Jennings, from Victoria, was outstanding and her 57*, her highest ODI score, ensured an eight-wicket win with 18.3 overs to spare.

1982 - New Zealand

Winner: Australia

Runner-up: England

Teams: 5 

The five-team event, hosted in New Zealand, had a new structure for 1982, with Australia, England, New Zealand, India and an International XI Women all taking part.Each side met each other on three occasions in the event, which lasted less than a month. Incredibly there were two tied matches in the event, with New Zealand (147-9) and England (147-8) involved in a dramatic second match of the event, while England (167-8) and Australia (167 all out) also couldn't be separated in a Group Stage game.

The International X1 struggled throughout the tournament, losing all twelve matches, although Lynne Thomas (who was Welsh but had represented England in the inaugural event) gave the team some respectability as she was the second top run scorer overall. Once again, Australia and England contested the Final and it was certainly a game to remember. Batting first, England had made 151-5 in 60 overs, before Australia reached its target of 152-7 with just six balls remaining.

1988 - Australia

Winner: Australia

Runner-up: England

Teams: 5

Teams had to wait six years for the next competition, which was held for the first time in Australia. The format had changed once again to become a five-team round-robin event where Teams played each other twice in the pool stages. The top two Teams in this group progressed to the final and for the first time there was a third place play-off. The Netherlands, making its debut at this level, joined Australia, England and New Zealand in the competition, with Ireland also competing for the first time. But the Dutch had a terrible start to the competition when it lost to Australia by 255 runs after making just 29 all out and went on to lose all eight matches it played in the competition.

Lindsay Reeler made 143* in that match for Australia and went on to be the highest scorer in the tournament, scoring 448 runs at an average of 149.33. Australia also had the leading bowler at the event as slow left-arm bowler Lyn Fullston, who tragically died at the age of 52 in June 2008, was the star with the ball taking 16 wickets in the event. Unsurprisingly, it was Australia-England in the final for the fourth consecutive tournament, in a game that was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Batting first England made just 127-7, with Fullston picking up 3-29, before an unbroken third-wicket stand between Reeler (59*) and Denise Annetts (48*) helped the home side to an eight-wicket triumph.

1993 - England

Winner: England

Runner-up: New Zealand

Teams: 8 

The Women's World Cup returned to England for the first time in twenty years with a new eight-team format. Each of the eight Teams, which included Australia, Denmark, England, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and West Indies, played each other once in the pool format with the top two progressing to the final at Lord's Cricket Ground.

The hosts got its campaign off to a great start with a 239-run win over Denmark, but slipped to a disappointing defeat in its second match against New Zealand when chasing a target of just 128. Reigning champions Australia looked on course to regain its title as it recorded wins over Netherlands, India, West Indies and Ireland, before two defeats against England and New Zealand meant it didn't even qualify for the final.

So the big day at Lord's was contested by England, who had relied upon the prolific Jan Brittin, who ended as the tournament's leading run scorer, and New Zealand, whose opening bowler Julie Harris eventually finished as top wicket taker along with England skipper Karen Smithies. In front of a large home crowd, England made 195-5 off 60 overs with Brittin (48) and Carole Hodges (45), who had also been in impressive form throughout the event, top scoring. New Zealand's batting struggled to cope with the English bowlers and at one stage had been reduced to 71-5. Further wickets continued to fall on a regular basis and in the end it fell 67 runs short of its target, with Jo Chamberlain picking up the Player of the Match Award for a quick-fire 38 off 33 balls and the important wicket of Kirsty Bond (now known as Flavell).

1997 - India

Winner: Australia

Runner-up: New Zealand

Teams: 11

India hosted the Women's World Cup for the second time and was keen to use home advantage to break Australia and England's dominance of the competition. With 11 teams taking part, including Pakistan and South Africa for the first time, the tournament was structured into two pools for the first time with round-robin matches in each group leading to semi-final qualification for the top two sides.

In Group A, Australia topped the group, with England, South Africa, Ireland, Denmark and Pakistan finishing behind in that order. In Group B, New Zealand and India both qualified for the semi-finals, with Netherlands, Sri Lanka and the West Indies also involved in that group.

In the first semi-final Australia won a tightly contested semi-final against India by 19 runs, despite having made just 123-7 in a 32-over per side match. And New Zealand reached the final for the second consecutive occasion with an excellent 20-run win as England fell narrowly short of its target.

Batting first in the final, only opener Debbie Hockley put up any proper resistance for the Kiwis as her 79 helped her side record a respectable 164 all out. A 52-run contribution from skipper Belinda Clark was key for Australia as it won the game with five wickets still in hand.

2000 - New Zealand

Winner: New Zealand

Runner-up: Australia

Teams: 8 

New Zealand played host to the four-week eight-team event in 2000, with the top eight sides in the world playing on a round-robin basis in a 50-over per side competition, with the top four going through to the semi-finals. Australia were outstanding in the group stages, winning all seven matches, while arguably the biggest shock was England's failure to make the semi-finals as South Africa took a place in the top four of the group stages. 

New Zealand, who defeated India by nine wickets, and Australia, who also won by nine wickets against South Africa, coasted through the semi-finals to set up the final the home crowd had wanted and it proved to be a classic.Batting first, New Zealand made 184 all out in 48.4 overs, which many felt was well below par, with Kathryn Ramel top scoring with 41 and Cathryn Fitzpatrick taking 3-52. 

But the Kiwis, cheered on by a passionate crowd, got off to the perfect start when they reduced the opposition to 2-2 with Lisa Keightley and Karen Rolton falling early. But skipper Belinda Clark proved to be a much tougher obstacle to remove and her 91 off 102 balls looked to have set her side on her way to victory until she fell leaving the score at 150-7 with 8.5 overs remaining. Further wickets tumbled, including the controversial dismissal of Cathryn Fitzpatrick, which left Australia needing five runs from six balls with one wicket remaining. 

Experienced off-spinner Clare Nicholson was brought on to bowl when skipper Emily Drumm finally realised she hadn't bowled her 10-over allocation and off the very first ball Charmaine Mason was caught behind by Rebecca Rolls. It was probably the greatest match in women's cricket history! 

2005 - South Africa

Winner: Australia

Runner-up: India

Teams: 8 

South Africa was the host to the Women's World Cup in 2005, the last to be played under the banner of the International Women's Cricket Council before the merger with the ICC, with the competition played under the same format as the previous event. Competing in the tournament were Australia, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Rain caused the first three matches to be abandoned, before Australia got its event off to a terrific start with a 32-run win over holders New Zealand.

Australia again dominated the campaign, winning all five of the matches it completed, while India's aggressive hitting over the top saw it finish in second place in the pool stages. There were some close and hard fought group matches, most notably South Africa's one-run win over the West Indies, but it was an extremely disappointing campaign for the hosts, who even failed to secure a top six place which meant it was forced to qualify for the 2009 event.

Old enemies England and Australia met in the semi-final and Belinda Clark's side proved to be far too strong for England as they reached a target of 159 with five wickets and 18 balls remaining. And India kept up its good form in the semi-finals, with Mithali Raj's brilliant 91 not out a vital factor in a comfortable 40-run win. But it could not keep that form up for the final and a century from Karen Rolton, not to mention four Indian run outs, led to a comprehensive 98-run win for Australia. 

2009-England

Winner: England

Runner-up: New Zealand

Teams: 8

March 2009 saw three of the greatest weeks in the history of the women's game, with the first ever Women's World Cup held under the ICC banner.Matches at the ICC Women's World Cup in Australia were broadcast to a global audience of 230 countries, providing unprecedented exposure to women's cricket; the games featured new-found levels of power hitting, quick bowling and dynamic fielding; while famous names, such as Wasim Akram, were amongst the many new converts to women's cricket.

Most impressively of all, a young generation of English stars provided inspiration to its supporters on the other side of the world by completing a sensational turnaround in its fortunes to grab its first World Cup in 16 years. Apart from the hosts, New Zealand, England, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies competed in the tournament.

Australia, India, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies, qualified directly by finishing in the top six in the previous edition. The last two places were awarded to Pakistan and South Africa as the two finalists of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in 2008. The eight teams were divided into two groups of four each. Australia, New Zealand were drawn together in Group A alongside South Africa and the West Indies, while India and Pakistan contested Group B along with England and Sri Lanka.

The top three teams in each group, New Zealand, England, India, Australia, Pakistan and West Indies made it to the Super Six Stage, where New Zealand and England advanced to the final. Nicki Shaw's brilliant spell of 4 for 34 restricted New Zealand to 166 in 47.2 overs in the final. In its reply, England overhauled the target in 46.1 overs with four wickets to spare thanks to Caroline Atkins' patient 40 off 85 balls.

While England's victory was impressive, the global game received a huge boost, with some of the less experienced sides in the event pushing higher ranked teams, suggesting that standards are improving around the world. Pakistan provided one of the surprise stories of the event, defeating Sri Lanka for the first time in 19 ODI matches to make it through to the Super Six, where it also defeated the West Indies, although it was later to lose the fifth/sixth play-off to the same opposition.