World Cup boost for international cricket, says ECB

Last year's Cricket World Cup, staged in the UK, was watched by more people than any previous tournament in the history of the competition.

According to research undertaken by the ECB, a cumulative audience of 2.3 billion watched the event in 129 territories, while in the UK there was a cumulative audience of more than 116 million from 553 hours of coverage. Other benefits of the event included a growth in the popularity of the game amongst women and a significant increase in ethnic support for cricket in the UK.

In the UK, surveys have revealed that the proportion of people interested in watching cricket on television increased from 44% to 54% during the course of the tournament. The increase in the proportion of women viewers, from 23% to 36%, was particularly encouraging. Cricket's image also benefited, with 16% of the public responding that their opinion of the sport had improved following the tournament.

In addition, the tournament provided the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its member countries with its best financial result ever, delivering a surplus of £30 million. It recorded an anticipated surplus of £13.7 million for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), only one million short of projections made four years earlier.

Tournament Director, Terry Blake, said, "The ECB achieved most of its principal objectives in delivering a well-organised and profitable event that left a lasting legacy for the game both in this country and around the world."

Early predictions that the scheduling of the event would lead to delays and abandonments because of bad weather proved to be unfounded. Weather determined the result of just one of 42 matches and only one 'rain day' was required to achieve a result.

The decision to 'take the game to the people' also proved to be successful as all matches were played in front of capacity or near capacity crowds, not only around the UK but also in Holland and Ireland.

The tournament also lived up to its title - the Carnival of Cricket - with ethnic minorities, in particular, providing an exciting and vibrant atmosphere which the ECB hopes will be recreated at the one-day international matches this coming summer.

Subject to possible modification to the allocation of points at the Super Six stage, the format of the tournament worked very effectively. The outcome was a series of gripping contests, not least the semi-final between South Africa and Australia, which will surely be remembered as one of the best one-day games ever.

On the down side, England's early departure from the tournament did dilute the impact of the event on the British public. Sponsorship income also was less than anticipated, although the shortfall in revenue was largely made up by increased ticket sales.