WC 2007 - Opening Ceremony

West Indies legendary all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers will officially open the World Cup 2007 on Sunday at the culmination of a two-hour, 45-minute ceremony.

The ceremony, which is being held at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium, comes two days before the first match of the seven-week event takes place. That will see hosts West Indies facing Pakistan at Sabina Park on Tuesday.

The ceremony, which has been called 'West Indian Energy', will feature reggae star Jimmy Cliff as well as a cast and crew of around 2,000 singers, dancers and performers.

World Cup 2007

As many as 16 teams are taking part in 2007 edition of World Cup.

The favorites is again Australia. However, with their recent form dip and losses to England and New Zealand, the gap between 1st and 2nd team has decreased. In fact, according to ICC Cricket Team Ratings, Australia has dropped down in its ranking for the 1st time to 2nd place. South Africa is the 1st placed team.

New Zeland with the number of all-rounders they have in the team look good to go to the semi-finals. West Indies has the home advantage and will be looking to enter the semi-finals.

India, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - All teams are capable of reaching the semifinals.

Among the other teams, after all the years, Bangladesh looks decent and will be looking to do some upsets in the world cup. Kenya and Zimbabwe can be a handy team too.

Cricket WC 2003

South Africa, Zimbabwe & Kenya 2003 : Winners - Australia

• The most recent World Cup was easily the least memorable; an overdrawn, poorly-organised event that featured too many mismatches among the 14 teams and was dominated by politics and scandal.
  
• After a saga that had dragged on for months, England refused to play in Zimbabwe for political and security reasons while New Zealand also withdrew from a game in Kenya. India almost failed to turn up due to a sponsors' dispute and the game's premier spinner Shane Warne failed a drugs test on the eve of the event.
  
• The presence of Holland, Namibia and Canada was well-intentioned but the group stages became almost interminable and the Super Six format was used again despite past criticism.
  
• Hosts South Africa exited early after misreading their Duckworth/Lewis chart, robbing the tournament of some of its vitality, while Kenya benefited from good fortune and a shock win over Sri Lanka to reach the last four.
  
• Australia, at least, were superb throughout and crushed India by 125 runs in the final after an outstanding 140 from Ricky Ponting

Cricket WC 1999

Great Britain & Holland 1999 : Winners - Australia

• The seventh World Cup is remembered for the brilliance of Australia in coming back from the brink of elimination and the miserable failure of principal hosts England.
  
• England were knocked out before the competition really got going, along with the minnows of Scotland, Bangladesh and Kenya. Australia would have joined them had they not beaten West Indies in their final group match.
  
• Australia's escape led to two superb encounters with South Africa. In the first, in the newly-created Super Six round, Steve Waugh hit a match-winning 120 after being dropped by a prematurely celebrating Herschelle Gibbs on 56. That error came back to haunt the Proteas as they contrived to tie their semi-final against the same opposition. In scenes of complete madness, Allan Donald was run out with just one run required and three balls remaining, allowing Australia to progress on Super Six superiority.
  
• The final was nowhere near as dramatic, with Shane Warne restricting Pakistan to a lowly 132 by claiming four for 33. Australia needed only 20.1 overs to record an eight-wicket win.

Cricket WC 1996

India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka 1996 : Winners - Sri Lanka

• The format was changed again as the World Cup returned to the subcontinent with 12 teams playing in two groups of six. Holland, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates bolstered the numbers.
  
• Sri Lanka took the tournament by the scruff of the neck and thrilled audiences worldwide with an exciting brand of attacking cricket, led by the 'pinch-hitting' of Sanath Jayasuriya.
  
• The refusal of Australia and the West Indies to play in Colombo due to a bomb blast helped Sri Lanka's passage but there was nothing fortuitous about their eventual victory. They humiliated England in the quarter-finals and emphatically took out their frustrations on the Australians that snubbed their country in the final, with Aravinda da Silva hitting a superb century in a seven-wicket win.
  
• The West Indies, despite their Colombo protest and a shock defeat by Kenya, actually went on to reach the semi-finals before being knocked out by the Aussies.

Cricket WC 1992

Australia & New Zealand 1992 : Winners - Pakistan

• The fifth World Cup was a spectacular affair featuring, for the first time, coloured clothing, day/night matches and, after a long period of isolation, South Africa. All nine teams played each other on a round-robin basis and the format, never since repeated, was hailed as a great success.
  
• South Africa were impressive and beat Australia on the way to the semi-finals, only to lose controversially to England when complicated new rain rules ludicrously left them needing 22 off only one ball.
  
• England were the best team throughout but Pakistan, put into the final by a brilliant 37-ball 60 from Inzamam-ul-Haq against New Zealand, were to deny them the trophy. Captain Imran Khan hit 72 and Wasim Akram produced some inspired reverse-swing bowling as Pakistan won by 22 runs in front of 87,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Cricket WC 1987

India & Pakistan 1987 : Winners - Australia

• The World Cup was staged outside England for the first time and proved a success despite initial problems with the Indian government threatening to refuse visas to players who had toured South Africa.
  
• Matches were reduced to the now standard 50-overs per side due to shorter daylight hours on the subcontinent and neutral umpires were introduced.
  
• The West Indies failed to reach the final for the first time but Australia were on the rise and overcame Pakistan in the semis despite a brilliant 70 from Javed Miandad.
  
• Graham Gooch hit 115 as England beat India in the other semi-final but they were to fall seven runs short in a tight final. They had seemed well placed at 135 for two chasing 256 but their reply was fatally undermined when Mike Gatting was dismissed attempting a now infamous reverse sweep.