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The 1978 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international cricket tournament played in India from 1 to 13 January 1978. Hosted by India for the first time, it was the second edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, after the inaugural 1973 World Cup in England.
The World Cup was the first international cricket tournament hosted by India.[1] Only four teams participated, the lowest number in the tournament's history – Australia, England, India and New Zealand. The teams played a round-robin tournament of three matches each, with Australia going undefeated to claim its first title. Australia's captain, Margaret Jennings, led the tournament in runs, while her teammate, Sharyn Hill, led the tournament in wickets. Three of the five highest scorers as well as three of the five leading wicket-takers in the tournament were from Australia. Sharon Tredrea featured in both lists, being the second-highest wicket-taker and fourth-highest scorer of the tournament.[2][3]
Background
It was originally proposed that South Africa host the World Cup, but this was abandoned to conform with the Apartheid-era sporting boycott of the country. The Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) then made a successful bid, and served as the primary organiser, with the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) providing only limited oversight.[4]
Participating teams
Along with India, which was making its debut, five other teams were originally invited – Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the West Indies. The Netherlands and the West Indies, which had both not previously participated, were forced to withdraw due to financial issues.[5][6]
Squads
Information is only available for players who played at least one match at the tournament.
| Template:Crw[7] | Template:Crw[8] | Template:Crw[9] | Template:Crw[10] |
|---|---|---|---|
Venues
Warm-up matches
At least five warm-up matches were played against various local Indian teams, all but one of which came before the tournament.[11] Template:Hidden begin Template:Limited Overs Matches
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Group stage
Points table
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- Note: run rate was to be used as a tiebreaker in the case of teams finishing on an equal number of points, rather than net run rate (as is now common).[12]
Matches
New Zealand vs Australia
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India vs England
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New Zealand vs India
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India vs Australia
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New Zealand vs England
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England vs Australia
Both Australia and England went into the last match of the tournament undefeated, which meant it functioned as a de facto final, akin to the Uruguay v Brazil match at the 1950 Football World Cup.[5]
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Notable aspects
The World Cup was reportedly poorly organised, with the conflicts between the WCAI, Indian state governments and the national governments. The visiting international teams were advised that the tournament would be held from 29 December 1977 to 23 January 1978 and were requested to arrive in mid-December for warm-up matches. They arrived to find that no matches had been organised; the WCAI issued an itinerary after the first match, but only around half of the anticipated matches were completed.[13]
The tournament nonetheless attracted large crowds.[1] England's Megan Lear later recounted that the "most memorable part of [the] tournament was playing in front of crowds of 40,000 plus".[14]
The Indians were the first women's team to play in trousers; at the previous World Cup all teams had played in skirts.[1]
Statistics
Most runs
The top five runscorers are included in this table, ranked by runs scored and then by batting average.
| Player | Team | Runs | Inns | Avg | Highest | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret Jennings | Template:Crw | 127 | 3 | 63.50 | 57* | 0 | 1 |
| Barbara Bevege | Template:Crw | 126 | 3 | 63.00 | 67* | 0 | 2 |
| Lynne Thomas | Template:Crw | 109 | 3 | 54.50 | 47 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharon Tredrea | Template:Crw | 87 | 2 | 43.50 | 56 | 0 | 1 |
| Wendy Hills | Template:Crw | 66 | 3 | 22.00 | 64 | 0 | 1 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo CricketArchive
Most wickets
The top five wicket takers are listed in this table, ranked by wickets taken and then by bowling average.
| Player | Team | Overs | Wkts | Ave | SR | Econ | BBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharyn Hill | Template:Crw | 30.0 | 7 | 7.57 | 25.71 | 1.76 | 3/16 |
| Sharon Tredrea | Template:Crw | 25.0 | 6 | 7.00 | 25.00 | 1.68 | 4/25 |
| Pat Carrick | Template:Crw | 29.0 | 6 | 17.66 | 29.00 | 3.65 | 3/43 |
| Glynis Hullah | Template:Crw | 21.1 | 5 | 6.80 | 25.40 | 1.60 | 2/2 |
| Peta Verco | Template:Crw | 23.0 | 5 | 7.40 | 27.60 | 1.60 | 3/9 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A World Cup lost and found(22 June 2019). Retrieved 25 August 2025.
- ↑ Women's World Cup 1977/78 (ordered by runs) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- ↑ Women's World Cup 1977/78 (ordered by wickets) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- ↑ Women's Cricket and Global Processes: The Emergence and Development of Women's Cricket as a Global Game{{#if:Velija|, Velija}. Palgrave Macmillan(2015). ISBN 9781137323538
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Abhishek Mukherjee (15 January 2014). "Australia Women lift 1978 World Cup — the tournament which was almost called off" – CricketCountry. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- ↑ Quick, quick Snow. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ↑ Batting and fielding for Australia women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Batting and fielding for England women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Batting and fielding for India women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Batting and fielding for New Zealand women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 table – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ [{{{url}}} World Cup a Shamble]. Sportsweek.
- ↑ (5 March 2009). "'Our laundry laid out to dry on the rocks'" – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
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