Kev and John's excellent adventure

At 111 for 5, Ireland looked to be at the receiving end of a mismatch against England, but they turned things around with a win their nation will never forget

'How the bloody hell did we win that?'

Or how West Indies lost the 1996 semi-final to Australia

When the World Cup left us cold

Osman Samiuddin: The tournament in the West Indies ought to have been among the most joyous, but it was marked by cheerlessness and dismay

The year we grew up

Being at India's first World Cup win was an unforgettable experience for an 18-year-old. By Rajdeep Sardesai

Dhoni's tactical masterstroke

Men of the Finals: The Indian captain promoted himself up the order in the 2011 final and won the trophy

How the World Cup became a commercial hit

Martin Williamson: The relatively modest sums from the early tournaments were overshadowed when TV rights money kicked in

'Everyone wanted us to win and nothing else'

In 1987, Kiran More understood what it felt like to be favourites for the World Cup

Olonga and Flower make a stand

It was a defining image in 2003: two players, one black, one white, risking their lives and careers by wearing black armbands to protest injustice

One-cup wonders

Players who had a starring role in the only World Cup that they had the opportunity to play in

'1983 was the biggest disappointment of my career'

Small chases are always tricky - even for two-time world champions against a team of no-hopers, as Joel Garner found out

The start of something big

Andrew Miller: The 1999 World Cup served as a wake-up call for the ICC in managing itself and world cricket better

'Gilly wasn't the batsman we were worried about'

Men of the Finals: Sri Lanka didn't anticipate a hundred hit by a batsman with a squash ball in his glove would end their World Cup dreams in 2007

Working the World Cups

Behind the scenes at a global tournament mostly involves endless meetings, faxes, waiting around, and dealing with fans' and the media's outrage. By Amrit Mathur

The tiny club that produced two World Cup captains

Just outside Dublin is eight-decade-old Rush CC, which honed the skills of Eoin Morgan and William Porterfield

Zimbabwe's Trent Bridge coup

In 1983, the minnows stunned the cricketing world in their first international match by upsetting a disunited Australia

Amrit Mathur

Of ghosting Imran and other tales

Amrit Mathur: Being at the 1987 and 1992 World Cups - one as a journalist, another as a member of the BCCI - was a study in contrasts

In search of the perfect World Cup format

Rob Steen: There have been several changes in the number of participating teams, each inviting flak. Yet another change will be in force come 2019

Ponting pummels India

Men of the Finals: Ricky Ponting made the 2003 final against a resurgent India a no-contest with one of the finest batting displays in World Cup history

Thrown in at the deep end

Top Fives: Players with little or no ODI experience who have been picked by Full Member countries for their 2015 World Cup squads

'The 1992 World Cup defined my cricket'

Shahid Afridi on the lessons Pakistan's victorious campaign taught him about life, and how Imran Khan's attitude moulded him as a captain

Crowe's fatal gamble

New Zealand's captain decided to rest in the 1992 semi-final against Pakistan so as not to aggravate an injury. He then watched in agony as it all went to pieces

Australia then and now

Between the 1992 and 2015 World Cups, the sociopolitical face of the country- continent has changed dramatically, increasingly turning towards Asia

Life as a World Cup Invincible

Shaun Tait looks back at the almost inevitable win Australia's powerhouse side achieved in 2007

The duck hunters

Batsmen who have made the most zeroes in cricket's biggest tournament

The sightseers who won a world title

My First World Cup: In 1983, Sandeep Patil and his team-mates were more keen to take in the sights of London than worry about facing Marshall and Co

Who could ever be surprised by Mr Warne?

Men of the Finals: Always mesmerising, Warne shook off ordinary form in the early stages of the 1999 World Cup with a magical spell in the semis and a masterful one in the final