(Part 31.) Manager’s view. To bounce or not to bounce? That seemed to be one of the questions occupying the minds of cricket’s administrators in the week leading up to the first Men’s Cricket World Cup in 1975. So, with 20 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the …

(Part 30.) A Bird’s eye view. Let’s just try to imagine the setting 50 years ago today, a week before the opening round of group matches at the 1975 Cricket World Cup. A real sense of anticipation no doubt with all eight teams competing for the first time for the …

(Part 29.) Contenders and pretenders. With 22 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies victory over Australia in the 1975 Cricket World Cup final, and having examined the credentials of the Caribbean side in great detail before considering the prospects of Australia and hosts England, let’s …

(Part 28.) England expects… If experience alone was the deciding factor, England would have won the 1975 Cricket World Cup running away. In no other part of the cricketing world was the limited-over game played in such profusion at that time. We already established that the first limited-over competition started …

(Part 27.) Chappell’s “Ugly” Australians. Ahead of the 1975 Cricket World Cup, West Indies were installed as the bookmakers’ favourites to lift the trophy in the 21 June final at Lord’s. But with 24 days to go to the 50th anniversary of that golden moment in Caribbean cricket history, it …

(Part 26.) Fountain of knowledge. While Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira was almost dizzy with delight at being selected on the Caribbean radio commentary team for the 1975 Cricket World Cup, notwithstanding his limited experience, the man who would become his great friend and travelling companion over the next 40 years had …

(Part 25.) Last of the Mohicans. Of those familiar voices who related the action of West Indies’ performances at home and abroad via the radio, only Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira remains to tell the story himself of what it was like to be at the 1975 Cricket World Cup. So with …

(Part 24.) Hoping for the best. One of the things you can never accuse self-proclaimed “cricket people” of is humility. In their haughty ignorance they go on endlessly about it being the gentleman’s game—blissfully unaware, or pretending to be unaware, that the Victorian phrase has nothing to do with conduct …

(Part 23.) All-round excellence. This series started with a clear plan of articles counting down to the 50th anniversary of the final of the 1975 Cricket World Cup on June 21. However, in doing a bit of web browsing—you can’t really call it research because the information is sitting right …

(Part 22.) Home away from home. When it came to familiarity with British conditions, England weren’t the only team at home for the 1975 Cricket World Cup. For the vast majority of the West Indies squad, it was already their cricketing home for at least five months a year on …

(Part 21.) An impatient King. Without resorting to your trusty search engine or any personal archives, can you name the players who have Cricket World Cup winners’ medals from both the 1975 and 1979 tournaments? Most are straightforward. Gordon Greenidge: who opened with Roy Fredericks in the first final and …

(Part 20.) Waiting in the wings. But for a falling out with the manager of the Jamaican national table tennis team, Maurice Foster might have been lost to cricket completely. As it transpired, that dispute with officialdom prompted Foster’s father to pull Maurice and his younger brother and sister—all members …