ICC Cricket World Cup, 2015 Countdown #46 - An overenthusiastic crowd tries to pre-empt history

© kareem

1975 was a year when cricket grounds were a lot more accessible to the crowd. There were no fences or barricades preventing people from getting on to the ground. The World Cup final that year bore testimony to why there was need for a lot more crowd control. West Indies and Australia had made it to the final. Clive Lloyd's men batted first and set a rather competitive target of 292. Australia were staring down the barrel thanks to some superb fielding, in particular. They were 233/9 in the 52nd over of the 60-over game. All was not lost yet, though. Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson were showing that they could cause some scare as a batting pair as well.

The duo got it down to 26 needed off the last two overs. The crowd was a partisan one with the Caribbean fans outnumbering the Aussies quite comfortably. The urge to celebrate was getting the better of them. So much so that they rushed onto the ground once when it appeared that Thomson was run out. However, Thommo had made his ground and the game went on. The crowd was buzzing by now.

It happened again next ball. This time Thomson gave a catch to cover but the bowler, Vanburn Holder, had over-stepped. Dickie Bird did not miss it, but the entire crowd saw only what they wanted to see and converged on the ground. Lillee and Thommo were unperturbed and continued running between the wickets. Roy Fredericks had had a shy at the stumps, missed and now the ball was missing thanks to the crowd. Lillee, half-jokingly, reckoned that they had run 17 by the time the crowd was cleared! The umpires clearly could not keep count for they were searching for their lost hats! In the end, Australia were awarded only 4 runs.

Australia could not get too close thereafter. Thomson was finally caught short of the crease without any room for doubt. Australia fell short by 17 runs. The crowd rushed in to celebrate with their heroes, this time for real. Not that it dimmed their enthusiasm even a little bit for their heroes, Clive Lloyd's West Indies, had just created history by winning the inaugural Cricket World Cup.