Winning trophies: Habit for some, rarity for most

How teams and players fared in tournaments with five or more countries

19-May-2010

Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood arrive back at Gatwick Airport with the World Twenty20 trophy in their hand luggage, London, May 18, 2010

Thirty five years. That's how long England had to wait for their first ICC tournament triumph. By the time they beat Australia in the World Twenty20 final in Barbados, even Afghanistan had won an ICC competition, albeit the qualifier in February which ensured they too would be 'bringing it' to the Caribbean. England had lost four previous finals (three in the World Cup, one in the Champions Trophy) and had never won a tournament, ICC or otherwise, involving five or more teams. The last time they won a trophy contested by at least four countries was in Sharjah in 1997. In this week's column we've looked at how teams and players fared in tournaments with five or more participants.

Australia and Pakistan have won six each, the most for any country. While Australia's collection includes four World Cups and two Champions Trophies, Pakistan made up the numbers with Austral-Asia and Nehru Cup victories, in addition to their World Cup and World Twenty20 titles. Pakistan were a force in multi-team competitions from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, winning five out of the six tournaments they were involved in. The 1994 Austral-Asia Cup was their last victory for 15 years until they beat Sri Lanka to win the second ICC World Twenty20 in 2009.

Over the years New Zealand have been a safe bet to make the semi-finals. They reached the final four of tournaments with five or more teams 13 times but won only two of those games, both in the Champions Trophy. They won their first final, against India in Nairobi in 2000, but lost to Australia at Centurion in 2009. Incidentally Daniel Vettori, who's been a permanent fixture in New Zealand's XI for seemingly forever, didn't play either of them: he was not part of the victorious squad in Kenya, and suffered a hamstring injury ahead of the final in South Africa. He is one of only four players who've played ten tournaments without a victory.

Team records in international tournaments with five or more teams
Team

Span Tourn. Won Finals Semis First win

Last win Australia 1975-2010 23

6 10 14 8 Nov 1987 5 Oct 2009

Pakistan 1975-2010 25 6 9

16 18 Apr 1986 21 Jun 2009 India 1975-2010

26 5 11 13 25 Jun 1983 24 Sep 2007

Sri Lanka 1975-2010 26 4 6

10 17 Mar 1996 6 Jul 2008 West Indies 1975-2010

21 3 8 11 21 Jun 1975 25 Sep 2004

Ireland 2007-2010 7 2 3

1 5 Aug 2008 19 Apr 2009 England 1975-2010

20 1 5 9 16 May 2010 16 May 2010

New Zealand 1975-2010 22 1 2

13 15 Oct 2000 15 Oct 2000 South Africa 1992-2010

15 1 1 9 1 Nov 1998 1 Nov 1998

Kenya 1996-2010 12 1 1

2 7 Feb 2007 7 Feb 2007 Netherlands 1996-2010

9 1 1 1 5 Aug 2008 5 Aug 2008

Afghanistan 2009-2010 3 1 1

0 13 Feb 2010 13 Feb 2010 Scotland 1999-2010

8 0 1 1 - -

Canada 1979-2010 7 0 1

0 - - Zimbabwe 1983-2010

15 0 0 0 - -

Bangladesh 1990-2010 13 0 0

0 - - United Arab Emirates 1994-2010

6 0 0 0 - -

Bermuda 2007-2009 4 0 0

0 - - Namibia 2003-2009

2 0 0 0 - -

Hong Kong 2004-2008 2 0 0

0 - - United States of America 2004-2010

2 0 0 0 - -

East Africa 1975-1975 1 0 0

0 - - Denmark 2009-2009

1 0 0 0 - -

Oman 2009-2009 1 0 0

0 - - Uganda 2009-2009

1 0 0 0 - -

Wasim Akram and Saleem Malik played in all of Pakistan's first five major tournament victories between 1986 and 1994. Akram took 11 wickets in those five finals at 20.09 each and scored a vital 49 in the 1990 Austral-Asia Cup final against Australia. Malik scored 180 runs at an average of 45 in those games.

Ricky Ponting is the only other player to have won as many finals of tournaments with five or more teams. After losing his first - in the 1996 World Cup- Ponting was part of victorious World Cup campaigns in 1999, 2003 and 2007, as well as the Champions Trophy in 2006 and 2009.

Player records in international tournaments with five or more teams
Player	Span

Tourn. Won Finals Semis First win Last win

Wasim Akram (Pak) 1985-2003 13 5

6 9 18 Apr 1986 22 Apr 1994 RT Ponting (Aus)

1996-2009 12 5 6 8 20 Jun 1999

5 Oct 2009 Saleem Malik (Pak) 1985-1999 10 5

6 7 18 Apr 1986 22 Apr 1994 ST Jayasuriya (SL)

1990-2010 19 4 6 8 17 Mar 1996

6 Jul 2008 M Muralitharan (SL) 1993-2010 14 4

6 7 17 Mar 1996 6 Jul 2008 Imran Khan (Pak)

1975-1992 9 4 5 8 18 Apr 1986

25 Mar 1992 GD McGrath (Aus) 1994-2007 9 4

5 8 20 Jun 1999 28 Apr 2007 Javed Miandad (Pak)

1975-1996 10 4 5 7 18 Apr 1986

25 Mar 1992 WPUJC Vaas (SL) 1994-2008 13 4

5 5 17 Mar 1996 6 Jul 2008 AC Gilchrist (Aus)

1998-2007 9 4 4 7 20 Jun 1999

28 Apr 2007 Aaqib Javed (Pak) 1989-1996 5 4

4 3 1 Nov 1989 22 Apr 1994 DPMD Jayawardene (SL)

1999-2010 13 3 5 5 29 Sep 2002

6 Jul 2008 KC Sangakkara (SL) 2000-2010 12 3

5 5 29 Sep 2002 6 Jul 2008 N Kapil Dev (India)

1979-1993 9 3 4 6 25 Jun 1983

27 Nov 1993 Ijaz Ahmed (Pak) 1987-2000 8 3

4 5 1 Nov 1989 25 Mar 1992 SR Watson (Aus)

2002-2010 8 3 4 5 5 Nov 2006

5 Oct 2009 Rameez Raja (Pak) 1985-1996 6 3

4 5 18 Apr 1986 25 Mar 1992 MEK Hussey (Aus)

2006-2010 6 3 4 5 5 Nov 2006

5 Oct 2009 B Lee (Aus) 2000-2009 8 3

3 6 23 Mar 2003 5 Oct 2009 A Symonds (Aus)

2003-2007 5 3 3 5 23 Mar 2003

28 Apr 2007 Mushtaq Ahmed (Pak) 1989-1996 4 3

3 3 1 Nov 1989 25 Mar 1992 GB Hogg (Aus)

2003-2007 3 3 3 2 23 Mar 2003

28 Apr 2007 Abdul Qadir (Pak) 1983-1990 5 3

2 4 18 Apr 1986 1 Nov 1989 MS Atapattu (SL)

1996-2006 9 3 2 3 29 Sep 2002

1 Aug 2004 DR Martyn (Aus) 1998-2006 7 3

2 3 23 Mar 2003 5 Nov 2006 UDU Chandana (SL)

1994-2004 8 3 2 2 30 Sep 2002

1 Aug 2004

South Africa have played 15 tournaments with five or more teams since their readmission to international cricket in 1992. They've made the semi-finals of such competitions nine times but only once have they made it past that - when they beat West Indies to win the inaugural ICC Knock-Out (now Champions Trophy) in Dhaka in 1998. Since then they've tied one and lost five semi-finals in major ICC tournaments. Herschelle Gibbs and Shaun Pollock have been involved in five of those semis while Graeme Smith played four.

Most international tournaments with five or more teams without a win
Player

Span Tourn. Won Finals Semis

DL Vettori (NZ) 1998-2010 10 0 0

4 HH Gibbs (SA) 1999-2010 10 0

0 5 Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) 1999-2009 10

0 0 3 Mohammad Ashraful (Ban) 2002-2010

10 0 0 0 SM Pollock (SA)

1996-2007 9 0 0 5

GC Smith (SA) 2002-2010 9 0 0

4 A Flower (Zim) 1992-2003 8 0

0 0 ADR Campbell (Zim) 1992-2003 8

0 0 0 B Zuiderent (Neth) 1996-2010

8 0 0 0 KO Otieno (Kenya)

1996-2009 8 0 0 2

AO Suji (Kenya) 1999-2010 8 0 0

1 GM Hamilton (Scot) 1999-2010 8 0

1 1 Mohammad Rafique (Ban) 1999-2007 8

0 0 0 JDP Oram (NZ) 2002-2010

8 0 0 3 BB McCullum (NZ)

2003-2010 8 0 1 4

AJ Stewart (Eng) 1989-2003 7 0 1

2 AA Donald (SA) 1992-2003 7 0

0 5 GW Flower (Zim) 1993-2003 7

0 0 0 HH Streak (Zim) 1993-2003

7 0 0 0 A Flintoff (Eng)

1999-2007 7 0 1 1

Khaled Mashud (Ban) 1999-2006 7 0 0

0 SE Bond (NZ) 2002-2010 7 0

1 4 KD Mills (NZ) 2002-2010 7

0 1 2 Mashrafe Mortaza (Ban) 2003-2010

7 0 0 0 Abdur Razzak (Ban)

2004-2010 7 0 0 0

RM Haq (Scot) 2007-2010 7 0 1

1 NFI McCallum (Scot) 2007-2010 7 0

1 1 RR Watson (Scot) 2007-2010 7

0 1 1 NS Poonia (Scot) 2007-2010

7 0 0 1

The World Cups began during the era of West Indian dominance and they won every match during their triumphant campaigns in 1975 and 1979. They were favourites to win in 1983 too but were upset by India. Few would have guessed they'd have to wait as long as 25 years for their next major title - the 2004 Champions Trophy in England. They made the finals of four other multti-team tournaments but lost all of them, most recently the 2006 Champions Trophy final against Australia in Mumbai.