Mark Anthony Taylor is a former Australian cricketer and current Nine Network commentator. He was the captain of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
Stephen Rodger Waugh is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman and a medium-pace bowler, Waugh is considered one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Waugh was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Australia to fifteen of their record sixteen consecutive Test wins, and to victory in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Waugh is considered the most successful Test captain in history with 41 victories and a winning ratio of 72%.
The 1975 Cricket World Cup was the inaugural men's Cricket World Cup, and the first major tournament in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket. Organised by the International Cricket Conference (ICC), it took place in England between 7 June and 21 June 1975.
Matthew Lawrence Hayden is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman who, along with opening partners Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist, contributed heavily to Australia's success during its "golden era" (2000-2008) in Test and ODI cricket respectively. He holds the record of highest individual score by an Australian batsman in Tests, having scored 380 against Zimbabwe during Zimbabwe's 2003 tour of Australia. This stands as the second-highest individual score in test cricket. It is the highest score by an opening batsman in Tests, though infamously he never faced the opening ball in Tests with Langer, always batting at No2. Hayden was a member of the Australian team that won both the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
Ricky Thomas Ponting is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Ponting was captain of the Australian national team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and is the most successful captain in international cricket history, with 220 victories in 324 matches with a winning rate of 67.91%. He stands third in the list of cricketers by number of international centuries scored. He holds the record for winning most ICC tournaments as a captain in Men's Cricket. Under his Captaincy Australia won the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups and 2006 and 2009 Champions Trophies. He was also a member of the Australian team that won the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 New Zealand had to wait until 1956, more than 26 years, for its first Test victory, against the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland. They played their first ODI in the 1972–73 season against Pakistan in Christchurch. New Zealand are the inaugural champions of WTC which they won in 2021 and they have also won ICC CT in 2000. They have played in the CWC final twice and the T20 WC final once.
Shoaib Akhtar is a Pakistani former international cricketer and commentator. Nicknamed the "Rawalpindi Express", he is the fastest bowler in cricketing history, with an unbeaten 161.3 kmph delivery. Akhtar made his Test match debut in November 1997 as an opening fast bowler and played his first One Day International three months later. Post-retirement, he began a YouTube career by starting his own channel, where he gives reviews on International and league matches and Pakistani cricket.
Ian David Stockley Smith is a New Zealand cricket and rugby commentator and former cricketer. He played as a wicket-keeper for New Zealand throughout the 1980s and part of the 1990s.
Allan Anthony Donald is a South African former cricketer who is also the former bowling coach of Bangladesh national cricket team. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his quick bowling, he is considered one of the South Africa national cricket team's most successful pace bowlers. He was an integral member of the South African team in its resurgence into international cricket since readmission and played an influential role as a frontline genuine seam bowler to boost South Africa to new heights. During his playing career, he was known for his bowling speed and aggression on the field. He is also remembered for his infamous runout during South Africa's loss in the 1999 World Cup semi-final match against Australia. Donald is the first South African to take 300 Test wickets.
The Pakistan national cricket team, has represented Pakistan in international cricket since 1952. It is controlled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the governing body for cricket in Pakistan, which is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Pakistan compete in cricket tours and tournaments sanctioned by the PCB and other regional or international cricket bodies in Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20) formats. Pakistan are current ICC Champions Trophy holders.
Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara born 27 October 1977 is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka in 134 Test matches from 2000 to 2015, including fifteen as captain. In first-class cricket, he played for Nondescripts Cricket Club from 1997–98 to 2013–14 and for Surrey County Cricket Club from 2015 to 2017. He also played for numerous franchise teams. He was born in Matale, Central Province. He was a part of the Sri Lankan squads which won the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2014 T20 World Cup.
Christopher Henry GayleOD is a Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies from 1999 to 2021. Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is widely regarded as the greatest batsman ever to have played Twenty20 cricket. He played a crucial role in the West Indies teams that won the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, 2012 ICC World Twenty20 and 2016 ICC World Twenty20.
Ian Andrew Healy is an Australian former international cricketer who played for Queensland domestically. A wicketkeeper and right-hand middle-order batsman, he first played international cricket in 1988, after six first-class games. Over the next decade, Healy was a member of the side as it enjoyed a period of success. By the time of his retirement, Healy held the world record for most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who played for and occasionally captained the Australian national cricket team between 2002 and 2016. He was an all-rounder who played as a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He was ranked as the world's No. 1 all-rounder in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) for 150 weeks, including an all-time record of 120 consecutive weeks from 13 October 2011 to 30 January 2014. He began playing during the Australian team's golden era in the early 2000s, and was the last player from this era to retire. In his time playing for Australia, Watson was part of their winning squad in the Cricket World Cup two times in 2007, and 2015 along with the ICC Champions Trophy twice in 2006 and 2009, with Watson named as the player of the match in the final on both occasions, as he scored the winning run in the 2006 tournament, with the winning six in the 2009 tournament.
Mark Charles Jefford Nicholas is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer and broadcaster. He played for Hampshire from 1978 to 1995, captaining them from 1985 to his retirement. On 1 October 2023, he succeeded Stephen Fry as president of Marylebone Cricket Club on a one-year term.
Nine's Wide World of Sports is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this brand, the flagship sports being rugby league, rugby union and Grand Slam tennis and spring horse racing. Previous sporting rights include the Australian rules football, Australian Cricket Team home season, autumn horse racing, swimming until 2008, and golf since 2018.
Cricket is the most popular summer sport in Australia at international, domestic and local levels. It is regarded as the national summer sport, and widely played across the country, especially from the months of September to April. The peak administrative body for both professional and amateur cricket is Cricket Australia. The 2017–18 National Cricket Census showed 1,558,821 Australians engaged in cricket competitions or programs – an increase of 9% from the previous year. 30% of cricket's participants are now female, and 6 in every 10 new participants are female, one of the highest year-on-year participation growth figures. In terms of attendance figures, more than 2.3 million people attended the cricket during the 2017–18 summer, surpassing the record of 1.8 million set in 2016–17.
Shane Keith Warne, nicknamed Warnie, was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Widely considered to be one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire, the Melbourne Stars and Australia. Warne also played for and coached the Rajasthan Royals, including captaining the team to victory in the inaugural season of the IPL.
Patrick James Cummins is an Australian international cricketer who captains the Australia men's national cricket team in Test and One Day International cricket. Widely regarded as an all-time great fast bowler in Test cricket and one of the finest fast bowlers of his generation, he captained Australia to victories in the 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship and the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. He is also known for being a handy lower-order batsman. Cummins was a member of the Australian team that won the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, and was the winning captain of the 2021–23 ICC World Test Championship and the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Fox Cricket is an Australian subscription television channel dedicated to screening cricket matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited and is available throughout Australia on Foxtel. The channel was launched on 17 September 2018.
