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(Part 46.) Getting inside the numbers.
At the last men’s 50-overs-per-side Cricket World Cup in 2023, Australia’s vanquishing of previously unbeaten hosts India and their ruining of the anticipated victory party at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad earned them a champions’ purse of US$4 million.
Photo: Rexscanpix/ Daily Mail.
Compare that to the roughly US$9,000 earned by the West Indies after defeating the Aussies in the inaugural final at Lord’s in 1975.
Roughly, because the actual figure was £4,000 and at the time, the British currency was almost twice the value of the United States version, even though the United Kingdom economy was struggling at the time.
And with only five days to go to the 50th anniversary of Clive Lloyd lifting the Prudential World Cup, we return to Nicholas Brookes’ historical perspective on that first Men’s World Cup—we should always remember that the women were first two years earlier—as it appeared in this year’s edition of what is commonly referred to as the cricketers’ ‘bible’: the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
(via Patrick Eager/ Guardian.)
This is how he starts the article:
“Fifty years ago, there wasn’t much for Britain to smile about. After a pair of general elections, the three-day (work) week, electricity rationing and a state of emergency in Northern Ireland, 1974 had offered few glimmers of hope to 1975.
“Unemployment reached record levels, the fashion designer and punk-rock impresario Malcolm McLaren dubbed the youth ‘a generation of the dispossessed’, while Margaret Thatcher, soon to become leader of the Conservatives, felt people had to regain ‘confidence in Britain and ourselves’.”
In that context, it is understandable why the prize money would be modest—and also because cricket was still lagging some way behind other sports when it came to payment for players in relation revenue earned by the sporting administrations.
Kerry Packer, the Australian television magnate, had yet to shake up the sport and many have speculated as to how much his shock intervention on the global game in 1977 would have been influenced by the game’s commercial possibilities sparked by the success of that 1975 World Cup.
Photo: Sydney Herald.
Two weeks after the World Cup final, Arthur Ashe upset favourite and fellow-American Jimmy Connors to claim the Wimbledon men’s single tennis title, which earned him the equivalent of US$22,000.
As usual then, the women’s prize was less—with Billie Jean King’s defeat of Australia’s Evonne Goolagong Cawley for her 12th and final Grand Slam singles crown earning the American the equivalent of US$15,000.
So comparatively modest figures were the norm even though, as is the case moreso now, professional football operated at a different level. British football’s record transfer fee then stood at £350,000 (US$720,000 approximately), which was the sum paid by Everton for Birmingham City striker Bob Latchford.
Copyright: Getty Images.
In those stringent economic circumstances, the organisers of the inaugural Men’s World Cup had to price their event at a level which would be attractive to people struggling to make ends meet.
As Brookes relates, ground admission to all venues was just £1 while £2 would get you a seat in the premier stands at most of the grounds. For the final, the cheapest ticket went for £3.
As it turned out, the pricing strategy, aided by attractive cricket in between the occasional no-contest and the notorious Sunil Gavaskar go-slow on opening day, drew the fans in.
The comparable price now, allowing for inflation, would be around £25 (TT$230).
The cheapest public ticket for Lord’s at the 2019 final was £95 (TT$874), the most expensive £395 (TT$3,633).
With the West Indies team galvanising expatriate Caribbean support in huge numbers and the English fascinated by the Australian fast bowling tandem of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, tickets for their Group B meeting at The Oval sold out days in advance.
As highlighted earlier in this series, opening batsman Gordon Greenidge was taken aback at the amount of money flowing through the betting shops in anticipation of a West Indies triumph.
Indian fans put so much on their team upsetting New Zealand in the decisive final Group A games—the Kiwis won by four wickets to reach the semi-finals—that Ladbrokes cut the odds on an Indian win from 11-4 to 7-4.
(via Sportzcraazy.)
All the fears of a commercial and audience flop dissipated, even as England failed to reach the final, losing a low-scoring semi-final duel with old rivals Australia while the West Indies breezed past New Zealand.
Brookes describes the 1975 World Cup final on 21 June as “the hottest ticket in town”. He continues: “Gate receipts were £66,400, then a record for a day’s cricket. And at nine and a half hours, it was also the longest day’s play in living memory. It felt celebratory.
“‘The West Indian fans were as joyous as a Saturday morning at the Kensington Oval,’ says BBC Test Match Special producer Peter Baxter. ‘It was different to a Test match day: less hum, more rattle—the perfect neutral match for a Lord’s final.’
Photo: Patrick Eagar/ via Getty Images.
“Crucially, it was a commercial triumph: 158,000 spectators turned up, and the tournament generated a profit of around £226,000, of which 10% passed straight to the TCCB (Test and County Cricket Board), and 7.5% to each of the seven other participants; the rest went to the ICC (International Cricket Conference).
“If there was a criticism, it was that cricket had sold itself a little short: in hindsight, £1 to watch the group match between West Indies and Australia was a basement-level bargain. According to Baxter, ‘1975 would have opened Kerry Packer’s eyes about what might be possible’.”
Of course, the quality of the cricket was the number one factor in the popular and commercial success of this groundbreaking World Cup, but it is also a salutary lesson in the efficient use of limited resources. Brookes breaks down the numbers:
Photo: CWI.
“Prudential paid £155,000 to sponsor the tournament, while the BBC won broadcast rights for £55,000. IPL money it was not—yet it would be put to good use: the seven visiting sides were offered return airfares, and a team bus for the duration of their stay.
“Every player would receive £250, a laundry allowance of £20, and cash for meals: £1.50 for lunch, £3.50 for dinner. The English players were promised first-class rail fares, or a petrol allowance of 7p per mile.”
In conclusion, Brookes notes that there were still skeptics around. But the evidence of the next half-century underscores how much of a visionary and inspiring move it was by the game’s governors to introduce a proper Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Photo: AFP 2017/ William West.
“Some wondered whether the World Cup could work outside England, which [Times cricket correspondent John] Woodcock pointed out was the most ‘compact and cosmopolitan’ of the cricket-playing countries.
“Britain’s long daylight hours in the summer months were another factor. India threw their name into the hat to host in 1979, but had to wait until 1987.
“Yet in the half-century since, the World Cup has spread its wings—not just to India and the West Indies, but to Kenya and Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Ireland and the Netherlands. In 2027, it will arrive in Namibia.
Photo: ICC/ Getty.
“Even as ODI cricket struggles for attention, the World Cup holds a special place in the calendar. That’s quite a legacy for a tournament many assumed was destined for failure.”
(Part 45.) Turner turns up again. With only six days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies victory Read more
(Part 43.) ‘Thommo’ on the rampage. With eight days to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies’ defeat of Australia in Read more
(Part 42.) “West Indies surely now cannot win!” Television commentator and former Australian captain and leg-spinner Richie Benaud’s crisp, precise Read more
(Part 41.) Deryck Murray, Andy Roberts save the day. With 10 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Read more
(Part 40.) Competing views “This one-day cricket is crap!” That was the view of Stephen Hearst. Who was (he passed Read more
(Part 39.) Winning starts for Aussies and Kiwis. They may be neighbours and both former British colonies in the Southern Read more
Fazeer Mohammed is a journalist/broadcaster with almost 40 years’ experience across a range of media.
His interest in cricket, and particularly its history, started at home via his father’s small collection of autobiographies and magazines, offering perspectives and context which have informed his commentary and analysis on contemporary issues in the game.
