Published: Mar 30, 2015, 03:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 30, 2015, 03:27 PM (IST)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that more than a million people attended the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 matches in Australia and New Zealand. In the official count announced during the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the ICC confirmed that 1,016,421 was the official attendance for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. This confirms the overall success of the event, where games have been well attended in both the legs. Read: Australia beat New Zealand in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Final, win World Cup for fifth time
The final itself witnessed 93,013 people attend the game. Earlier during the tournament, around 87 thousand people had been present for the game between India and South Africa at the MCG. Most of the India games were well attended, which has helped the count quite a bit. This comes as an encouraging sign for the ICC as they play to make the one-day game more interesting and viewer friendly, so that it does not lose relevance in the T20 era. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: The CricketCountry XI
On Sunday, Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets to lift their fifth World Cup. Australia lauded its World Cup winning team on Monday for a “fairytale” victory on home soil over New Zealand, with praise heaped on retiring one-day captain Michael Clarke after a dream farewell. Clarke hit 74. Cricket World Cup finals XI: Players who were outstanding on the day of finals
The win, culminating a gruelling tournament, was front page news across the country with The Australian newspaper saying, “Pitch perfect Australia lives the dream to claim fifth World Cup.” Michael Clarke retires from ODIs: Battered, bruised but not beaten
The captain, wearing a black armband, dedicated the win to Phillip Hughes, the team-mate who died after being hit on the head by a bouncer last year, which the Telegraph said was a fitting tribute. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: The Associate XI
“Of course no silverware could erase the painful memories of Phillip Hughes’ tragic and traumatising death,” cricket writer Richard Hinds said. “Yet, at the twilight of a confronting, even brutal summer, this was rich reward for Australia’s experience, endurance and composure.” Australia batsman Hughes died on November 27 last year, two days after being hit on the head by a Sean Abbott bouncer in a first-class match in Sydney.
