Milestones are the greatest carriers of memories. Riding on the historical records, the cricketing fraternity has seen moments of dominance, acts of chivalry, and players with taxing preparations to emerge as the game’s greatest students. Much like how diamonds go through arduous acts behind the scenes to emerge as sparkling possessions, the girls put in a similar number of tiring hours on the freshly cut turf to assert supremacy over the 22-yard strip.
Today, the Women’s One Day International World Cup breaches the 50-year mark of existence. It’s a milestone that is greatly cherished around the globe. The stands of the stadium have seen it all in these 50 years; agony and excitement, anxiety and relief, tears and joy, fear and undisputed bravery. There have been days when the seam got the better of the willow and rattled the timber and certain other days when the echo of the bat emerged the loudest. Giving out a strong message to the world, saying that women’s cricket is up and running.
Australia undoubtedly has taken home the majority of the pie, their reign on the global stage has been consistent with ICC accolades at regular intervals. Out of the 12 editions, they have pocketed 7 of them and remained as runner-ups on two occasions. They still remain a formidable side, their opposition have been fearing them for their rich legacy being carried forward generation by generation.
HISTORIC DAY!! 🎉
It's the 50th anniversary of the Women's ODI World Cup today. #OnThisDay in 1973 marked the beginning of the ODI World Cup. 7 Teams played in a round-robin format.#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/nfKFnZIDiS
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 20, 2023
Extending competition to the mighty Australians lie the British unit. The oppositions have met each other in the finals on 5 occasions and Australia leads that tally 4-1. Although England have been successful in four world cup campaigns. It’s a testament to the brand and culture of cricket they’ve maintained over the decades to see their name on the leaderboard. They happened to clinch the first edition of the World Cup, where winners were decided on the points system. Heather Knight and Co. would love to do some catching up with their Ashes rivals, by extending their World Cup trophy cabinet.
New Zealand remains the 3rd most successful unit and the last team on the list to have lifted the ultimatum. Their sole trophy came in the year 2000 on their home conditions beating Australia by whiskers and winning the encounter by four valuable runs. The White Ferns have consistently finished on the upper half of the table, but have found the last hiccup a little too expensive. They still remain the cream of the teams, for the competitive history they possess and will continue to play fearlessly in the coming World Cups.
The women in blue, have gotten the prized world cup semi-final ticket four times so far in the history of the tournament, out of which they had the ultimate shot at the trophy in the final on two occasions which went in vain. The coming world cup in 2025 will be India’s 4th on their home turf. With the newly elected selection panel and a few solid senior experienced players in the mix, they’ll fancy their chance to lift the trophy.
Caribbean represented in the tournament; West Indies have not had the greatest of memories in the discrete history of the world cup. But in the last couple of seasons, they have turned things around as they finished as runners-up in the 2013 edition in India and made it to the semifinals in last year’s edition.
Clinical right-handed batter, Debbie Hockley hailing from New Zealand remains the highest run-getter in the World Cups with a mammoth 1,501 runs, spanning between 5 world cup editions from 1982 to 2000. Back in the day, she was renowned for her aggressive stroke play with the shiny new ball to get off the White Ferns to fantastic starts.
Leading the wickets chart is India’s daughter, Jhulan Goswami, with 43 wickets spanning from 2005 to 2022 which included 5 world cups. The tall, lanky Indian stalwart has remained an example of perseverance. Components like good height, seam positions, and challenging lengths made it a nightmare for even the finest of batswomen to navigate.
As the 50-year mark has been surpassed, women’s cricket is only expected to grow and yield talent like never before. More and more countries taking up the sport in the women’s vertical will ensure new entrants in the tournament promising the level of competition to go up and have teams win their maiden titles in the editions to come.