How do Teams Qualify for Cricket World Cup?
The Cricket World Cup is the mother of all Cricket tournaments. One of the world’s most televised events, it is touted as the biggest cricketing spectacle. It is held every four years. More than a dozen teams from across the globe compete against each other, with the best team, the one that wins the final of the tournament, walks away with the trophy.
The origin of the World Cup dates back to 1975 when the first tournament was held. It was won by the mighty West Indies. Since then, more countries have been added to the list of participating members and the format of the tournament has undergone many changes making it more exciting and entertaining. Qualifying for the World Cup is no child’s play and only the best teams make it through.
Currently, there are more than 100 nations where cricket is played. In a few, cricket is a major sport while in many it is still in the nascent stage. Of these nations, barely 20 make it to the World Cup. It is a long drawn out process and can typically start a few years before the actual event takes place. There are five ICC regional bodies and these include Asia, East-Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The respective councils of these five bodies organize the qualifying tournaments for the World Cup Qualifier. Barring the 1975 World Cup, the qualifying events have been held for all the following World Cups.
The cricket world is divided into two groups – the test playing nations and the non-test playing nations. The former automatically qualify for the World Cup while the latter nations have to take part in a series of preliminary qualifying tournaments to make it through. The 1979 World Cup, which was the second edition of the tournament, witnessed the introduction of the qualifying tournaments. Two places out of a total eight in the finals were given to the ICC Trophy’s leading teams. However, the following years witnessed changes in the number of teams that were selected through the ICC Trophy. The International Cricket Council administers the World Cricket League. This qualification system gives more opportunities to the Associate as well as the Affiliate members to qualify in the tournament.
The 2019 World Cup
The 2019 Cricket World Cup, the 12th edition of the tournament, will kick start on May 30th. The event will be held in England and Wales. The tournament and the qualification process have undergone a complete overhaul. The earlier tournaments saw up to 15 or 16 members competing with each other. But, the 2019 spectacle has been drastically cut to 10 teams. It is the first time in the history of the World Cup that not all the test playing nations will be present. Also, no associate members will be there in the 2019 tournament.
The format will be different compared to the previous World Cups which saw multiple groups. The 2019 tournament will be a single group of 10 teams. Every team will get a chance to play against the other nine teams. The four teams that make it to the top of the standings will play the semi-finals and ultimately the final. The eight top teams on the top of the ICC ODI Championship list automatically made it to the World Cup. Two teams were selected after qualifying in the 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The teams that took part in the qualifier were Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, United Arab Emirates, West Indies, and Zimbabwe. Of these, Afghanistan and West Indies qualified for the 2019 World Cup tournament. The other eight teams that automatically qualified are England, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Incidentally, this would be the first time when Afghanistan would be playing in the tournament.
ICC World Cup 2019: Full Schedule, Date and Venue
| Day & Date | Match | Venue | D/N |
| Thursday, May 30 | England vs South Africa | The Oval, London | Day |
| Friday, May 31 | Pakistan vs West Indies | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Day |
| Saturday, June 1 | New Zealand vs Sri Lanka | Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff | Day |
| Saturday, June 1 | Afghanistan vs Australia | Bristol County Ground, Bristol | D/N |
| Sunday, June 2 | South Africa vs Bangladesh | The Oval, London | Day |
| Monday, June 3 | England vs Pakistan | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Day |
| Tuesday, June 4 | Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka | Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff | Day |
| Wednesday, June 5 | South Africa vs India | Hampshire Bowl, Southampton | Day |
| Wednesday, June 5 | Bangladesh vs New Zealand | The Oval, London | D/N |
| Wednesday, June 5 | Bangladesh vs New Zealand | The Oval, London | D/N |
| Thursday, June 6 | Australia vs West Indies | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Day |
| Friday, June 7 | Pakistan vs Sri Lanka | Bristol County Ground, Bristol | Day |
| Saturday, June 8 | England vs Bangladesh | Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff | Day |
| Saturday, June 8 | Afghanistan vs New Zealand | County Ground, Taunton | D/N |
| Sunday, June 9 | India vs Australia | The Oval, London | Day |
| Monday, June 10 | South Africa vs West Indies | Hampshire Bowl, Southampton | Day |
| Tuesday, June 11 | Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka | Bristol County Ground, Bristol | Day |
| Wednesday, June 12 | Australia vs Pakistan | County Ground, Taunton | Day |
| Thursday, June 13 | India vs New Zealand | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Day |
| Friday, June 14 | England vs West Indies | Hampshire Bowl, Southampton | Day |
| Saturday, June 15 | Sri Lanka vs Australia | The Oval, London | Day |
| Saturday, June 15 | South Africa vs Afghanistan | Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff | D/N |
| Sunday, June 16 | India vs Pakistan | Old Trafford, Manchester | Day |
| Monday, June 17 | West Indies vs Bangladesh | County Ground, Taunton | Day |
| Tuesday, June 18 | England vs Afghanistan | Old Trafford, Manchester | Day |
| Wednesday, June 19 | New Zealand vs South Africa | Edgbaston, Birmingham | Day |
| Thursday, June 20 | Australia vs Bangladesh | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Day |
| Friday, June 21 | England vs Sri Lanka | Headingley, Leeds | Day |
| Saturday, June 22 | India vs Afghanistan | Hampshire Bowl, Southampton | Day |
| Saturday, June 22 | West Indies vs New Zealand | Old Trafford, Manchester | D/N |
| Sunday, June 23 | Pakistan vs South Africa | Lord’s, London | Day |
| Monday, June 24 | Bangladesh vs Afghanistan | Hampshire Bowl, Southampton | Day |
| Tuesday, June 25 | England vs Australia | Lord’s, London | Day |
| Wednesday, June 26 | New Zealand vs Pakistan | Edgbaston, Birmingham | Day |
| Thursday, June 27 | West Indies vs India | Old Trafford, Manchester | Day |
| Friday, June 28 | Sri Lanka vs South Africa | The Riverside, Durham | Day |
| Saturday, June 29 | Pakistan vs Afghanistan | Headingley, Leeds | Day |
| Saturday, June 29 | New Zealand vs Australia | Lord’s, London | D/N |
| Sunday, June 30 | England vs India | Edgbaston, Birmingham | Day |
| Monday, July 1 | Sri Lanka vs West Indies | The Riverside, Durham | Day |
| Monday, July 2 | Bangladesh vs India | Edgbaston, Birmingham | Day |
| Wednesday, July 3 | England vs New Zealand | The Riverside, Durham | Day |
| Thursday, July 4 | Afghanistan vs West Indies | Headingley, Leeds | Day |
| Friday, July 5 | Pakistan vs Bangladesh | Lord’s, London | Day |
| Saturday, July 6 | Sri Lanka vs India | Headingley, Leeds | Day |
| Saturday, July 6 | Australia vs South Africa | Old Trafford, Manchester | D/N |
| Tuesday, July 9 | Semi-Final (1 vs 4) | Old Trafford, Manchester | Day |
| Wednesday, July 10 | Reserve Day | ||
| Tuesday, July 9 | Semi-Final (2 vs 3) | Edgbaston, Birmingham | Day |
| Wednesday, July 12 | Reserve Day | ||
| Tuesday, July 14 | Final | Lord’s, London | Day |
| Wednesday, July 15 | Reserve Day |
Information on Other Sports:
Related Maps:
