Courtesy :Thatscricket.com  

Introduction :

54 matches will be played between February 9 and March 23 and an estimated 1.3 billion viewers will watch 210 men trying to prove that they are the best cricketers in the world. It won't get any bigger or better than this. Welcome to the eighth ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa. 

Schedule :

Pool A : Australia, England, Pakistan, India, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Holland 
Pool B : South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Kenya, Bangladesh, Canada 

Word cup History :

The first attempt at a World Championship of cricket was in 1912, when a three-way series was arranged between the current Test playing nations, Australia, England and South Africa. Dogged by poor weather, the experiment was not repeated until 1975, when following the success of domestic one-day competitions, the six Test playing nations (England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India and Pakistan) were joined by Sri Lanka and East Africa in the first World Cup. A resounding success, the tournament has taken place very four years since. In May and June of 1999, the 7th World Cup was played in England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands. A brief look at previous editions of World Cup: 


First World Cup : The first World Cup was held in 1975 in England. Sponsored by the Prudential Insurance Company, it was called the Prudential World Cup. On June 21, 1975 at Lord's, West Indies led by Clive Lloyd beat Ian Chappell-led Australia by 17 runs to win the first World Cup. 


Second World Cup : The second World Cup was held in 1979 in England. It was also called the Prudential World Cup as it was sponsored by the Prudential Insurance Company. Clive Lloyd led the West Indies to their second consecutive title when they beat hosts England led by Mike Brearley by 92 runs on June 23, 1979 at Lord's. 


Third World Cup : Underdogs India stunned the world when led by Kapil Dev, they beat the mighty West Indies, led by Clive Lloyd, by 43 runs on June 25, 1983 at Lord's to lift the third Prudential World Cup. 

Fourth World Cup: For the first time the World Cup was held in the sub-continent, jointly hosted by India and Pakistan. Known as the Reliance World Cup, Allan Border led Australia to a 7-run win over Mike Gatting-led England, on November 8, 1987 at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta. 


Fifth World Cup : Jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the Benson and Hedges World Cup was won by Pakistan. Imran Khan led his team to a 22-run win over Graham Gooch-led England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 25, 1992. 


Sixth World Cup : The World Cup returned to the sub-continent in 1996 this time as the Wills World Cup. For the first time in the history of the tournament, the team chasing won as the Sri Lankans led by Arjuna Ranatunga sprang a surprise when they beat Mark Taylor-led Australia by seven wickets in Lahore on March 17, 1996. 


Seventh World Cup : The World Cup returned to England now known as the ICC World Cup. Steve Waugh led the Aussies to a thumping win against Pakistan led by Wasim Akram in the final at Lord's on June 20, 1999.