History of the ICC Cricket World Cup a composite team from East Africa. One notable omission was the South African cricket team who were not competing due to the international sports boycott. West Indies won the first Cricket World Cup by defeating Australia by 17 runs in the final. The next two World Cups held in 1979 and 1983 were again hosted by England. The 1979 Cricket World Cup saw the introduction of the ICC Trophy, a competition used to select non-Test playing teams for the World Cup. Sri Lanka and Canada qualified through the ICC Trophy in 1979. West Indies again won the World Cup tournament,
England at the Cricket World Cup date. They have never won the competition, but their best performances were losing finalists in 1979, 1987 and 1992; they have also been eliminated in the Group stage of the competitions on 3 occasions: 1999, 2003 and 2015. England have hosted the World Cup more than any other team, 4 times in total, including the first 3 World Cups in 1975, 1979 and 1983. They are also scheduled to host the 2019 Cricket World Cup, from 30 May to 15 July 2019. White: Group/Round-Robin Stage The inaugural Cricket World Cup was hosted in 1975 by England, the only nation able