ICC World Cup Factbox: How England have fared in quadrennial showpiece event over the years

A lot will be riding on defending ODI World Cup champions England, when they begin their campaign against New Zealand, in what will be a rematch of the 2019 final.

It has been a roller-coaster ride for England across the previous 12 editions of the 50-over World Cup, but as much as we know that 14 July, 2019 will be etched in the minds of every England fan, it will be time to start afresh come 5 October.

Every time an England cricket team enters the World Cup, there’s a lot of expectations from fans and pundits, and this time too, the script will be no different. More so, when they come into the tournament as defending champions.

England have proof to showcase their consistency in the latter stages of the tournament. They have made the knockout stages on eight occasions, and the Super Eight stage once, that means they have suffered group stage exits just thrice.

Having said that, we now take a look at England’s journey in the ODI World Cup and the numbers behind it:

Titles: 1

World Cup recap: The 1975 to 1996 era in English cricket witnessed a lot of legends, beginning with captain Mike Denness and Tony Greig in the inaugural World Cup, to the likes of Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott in the 1980s, and then of course, Graham Gooch’s men reaching the final of the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in which they lost to Imran Khan’s Pakistan.

These two decades were arguably the Golden Generation of English cricket, and despite reaching the quarter-finals in each of these editions up until 1996, every now and then, England fell short, with their best run during this period being runners-up finishes in 1979, 1987 and 1992.

Of course, there are three group stage exits (1999, 2003 and 2015) that will remain a haunting memory for some, but the most horrific of those would arguably be the 2015 edition in Australia and New Zealand.

Imagine an England team boasting the likes of skipper Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler or even Joe Root, and not even making it past the group stage.

Of course, this was a team in transition following the retirements of some big names including Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, but even then, nobody would have seen the group stage exit in 2015 coming.

Fast forward another four years, on their own home soil, the day of reckoning finally came for England.

Once again led by Morgan, England in the 2019 edition of the World Cup, which featured the rise of their next generation pacer in Jofra Archer, would go onto edge New Zealand by the narrowest of margins at Lord’s — a boundary count, something which divided fans and critics alike.

However, it wasn’t meant to be for New Zealand. Four years on from that, it would be something like a full circle for England, when they face the Kiwis in Ahmedabad on 5 October.

Edition-wise performances

1975: Semi-finals

1979: Runners-up

1983: Semi-finals

1987: Runners-up

1992: Runners-up

1996: Quarter-finals

1999: Group stage

2003: Group stage

2007: Super Eights

2011: Quarter-finals

2015: Group stage

2019: Champions

World Cup record: Matches: 84; Won: 49; Lost: 33; No Result: 1; Tied: 1;

Team records

Highest total: 397/6 vs Afghanistan in Manchester, 2019

Lowest total: 93 vs Australia in Leeds, 1975

Individual records

Most runs — Joe Root (6246 runs)

Most wickets — Adil Rashid (184 wickets)

Highest individual score—Andrew Strauss (158 runs vs India in Bengaluru, 2011)

Best bowling figures — Vic Marks (5/39 vs Sri Lanka in Taunton, 1983)

Most catches — Alec Stewart (21 catches)

ICC ODI ranking: 5

Schedule

5 October: vs New Zealand in Ahmedabad

10 October: vs Bangladesh Dharamsala

15 October: vs Afghanistan in New Delhi

21 October: vs South Africa in Mumbai

26 October: vs Sri Lanka in Bengaluru

29 October: vs India in Lucknow

4 November: vs Australia in Ahmedabad

8 November: vs Netherlands in Pune

11 November: vs Pakistan in Kolkata

World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.