1982 Women's Cricket World Cup

Professional one-day cricket was first played in 1962 when four English county cricket teams filled in a gap in their schedule to play in a limited overs knockout competition.[1] Nine years later in 1971, the first men's One Day International took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as a replacement for the third Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series between Australia and England, which had been abandoned due to rain. The game was a 40-overs-per-side contest, which Australia won.[2]

Two years after that, Jack Hayward and Rachael Heyhoe-Flint organised the 1973 Women's Cricket World Cup, predating the first men's Cricket World Cup by two years. The tournament was played as a league format; the team who topped the points table at the conclusion would be champions. England beat Australia in the last match of the tournament to become the first Women's World Cup winners.[3] The second Women's Cricket World Cup was scheduled to take place in South Africa in 1978, but with that country facing increasing sporting boycotts due to its apartheid policies, and withdrawals for financial reasons by the Netherlands and West Indies, the tournament was in jeopardy. The 1978 Women's Cricket World Cup was belatedly relocated to India, and featured only four teams. The tournament was once again played in a league format, but as in 1973, the final group match acted as a de facto final: Australia beat England to become champions.[4]

During the 1978 World Cup, the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) met. The IWCC had not been involved in the running of either of the first two world cups, but felt that there had been a lack of organisation, and announced that they would be more involved with future world cups.[4] Despite the involvement of the IWCC, the organisation of the 1982 event still primarily rested on the New Zealand Women's Cricket Council; which itself was mostly formed of the players themselves. They spent eighteen months planning the tournament. Their efforts resulted in the Women's World Cup having a title sponsor for the first time; it was officially known as the Hansells Vita Fresh World Cup.[5]

Unlike the two previous women's world cups, the 1982 tournament featured a final. A round-robin league stage involved each of the five teams playing each other three times each; a total of 30 group matches, from which the top two teams qualified for the final.[5] The tournament took place over 29 days, from 10 January to 7 February.[6] Each match was played as a 60-overs-per-side contest.[5]

Five teams were invited: Australia, England, India, the Netherlands and the West Indies, but as in 1978, South Africa were not invited due to the ongoing boycott.[5] Despite the increased sponsorship, and the involvement of the IWCC, participating teams and players had to fund their own visit. For example, each Indian player had to pay ₨10,000 (roughly £570, or US$1,000 at the time).[7][lower-alpha 1] This cost was prohibitive for the Dutch team, who withdrew from the tournament, as they had four years earlier. The West Indies also pulled out, in protest that New Zealand had hosted the apartheid-era South African rugby team in 1981. In order to prevent another four-team competition, the organising committee decided to invite a selection of players to form an International XI, as had featured at the 1973 World Cup.[5]

The final was the only match of the tournament played at Lancaster Park, Christchurch, and took place in front of a crowd of 3,000.[21] Dickie Bird became the only umpire to stand in both a men's and women's World Cup final.[22] England won the toss and batted first. They scored slowly until the last ten overs of their innings; Jan Southgate made their highest score, with 53 runs, but found batting difficulty against Australia's spin bowling.[23] In the last ten overs, England played more expansively, and eventually finished with 151 runs, meaning that Australia would need to score 152 to win.[24] Australia lost three wickets early in their chase, but were steadied by a partnership between Karen Read and Sharon Tredrea. Quick scoring from Jen Jacobs and Marie Cornish late-on in the innings helped Australia to their target with six balls remaining, securing a three-wicket victory, and their second World Cup title.[23]

7 February Scorecard

England  151/5 (60 overs)	v	Australia 152/7 (59 overs)
Jan Southgate 53 (104) Lyn Fullston 2/20 (12 overs)		Jen Jacobs 37 (45) Avril Starling 2/21 (12 overs)

Australia won by 3 wickets Lancaster Park, Christchurch Umpires: Dickie Bird (Eng) and Fred Goodall (NZ)

• England won the toss and elected to bat.

England's Jan Brittin finished with the most runs during the World Cup, having accumulated 391, ahead of the 383 scored by Lynne Thomas of the International XI and Susan Goatman, also of England, who scored 374.[25] Brittin also made the highest score of the tournament, when she scored 138 not out against the International XI. The only other century of the tournament came against the same opposition: Barbara Bevege's 101.[26] The best averages of the competition were achieved by England's Heyhoe-Flint, with 47.83, and two Australians, Jill Kennare (43.87) and Lyn Fullston (41.00).[27]

Amongst the bowlers, Fullston took the most wickets (23), followed by Jackie Lord of New Zealand, with 22, and India's Shubhangi Kulkarni, who took 20.[28] Lord had the best bowling figures in an innings, when she took six wickets against India. The only other bowler to take five wickets in an innings was Fullston, who did so against New Zealand, taking five for 27.[29] Kulkarni had the best bowling average in the World Cup, collecting her wickets at 11.70. She was followed by Fullston (12.00) and Lord (12.40).[30] The most economical bowler was New Zealand's Sue Brown, who conceded 1.53 runs per over, followed by a pair of Australians; Cornish (1.76) and Denise Martin (1.77).[31]

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo