Throughout the course of the 1990s, India’s standing in the global game experienced a revolution, turbocharged by a passion for one-day international cricket

By the time the 1999 World Cup rolled around, expectations were lofty. Having fallen short when co-hosting the tournament in 1996, they came to England boasting healthy balance of experience and youth with Sachin Tendulkar well into his lengthy period at the very top of the game.

They were right to believe that they had every chance to lift the trophy again, having saluted at Lord’s the previous time the competition was decided there in 1983.

But it wasn’t to be. The Men in Blue had it in them to pile on bulk runs on but not to do so consistently enough.

While they were good enough to eliminate England with a superb performance at the end of the group stage, that came after Zimbabwe had shocked them – a result which came back to bite in the Super Six standings.

Then, when running into Australia in red-hot form, their chances of glory were dashed.

But alongside the other Asian teams in the tournament, India brought a lot more than wins and losses alone to this World Cup.

Their passionate fans packed out every ground where they played, from tiny county postage stamps to the bigger Test venues. With this support away from home becoming a permanent feature, it is said that after Ninety9 India never truly played an away game again.

Harsha Bhogle has been the voice of Indian cricket for three decades and in 1999 was following the carnival around the country as a leading television caller and host.

He joins World Cup Ninety9 to discuss the decade that changed everything for India cricket an the tournament could have been, but wasn’t quite.

This is the greatest season that was.

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There were more than a few breakout stories in 99, but few more
fascinating than that of a left-arm pace bowling spearhead from New
Zealand who used a three fingers "claw" grip on the white Dukes ball
to swing it just the right amount and finish the tournament equal
leading wicket taker with Shane Warne.

His name was Geoff Allott, and his '99 World Cup was one of three
major highlights in an otherwise brief international career.

As a young cricketer who took up fast bowling relatively late, Allott
was something of a shooting star for New Zealand, but showed his
capabilities from the very start, bowling his side to a thrilling tie
against England at home in 1997.

Though he struggled in Australia the following summer, Allott's pace
and thoughtfulness made him an attractive option for the Black Caps,
who under the leadership of Stephen Fleming and Steve Rixon were
making themselves a force to be reckoned with in one day cricket.

Returning to the team against South Africa early in '99, Allott
showcased a remodeled action and a knack for vital wickets, earning
him a place in the squad to England. Even before he got there, a batch
of training balls gave him an indication that 1999 might be his year.
Geoff Allott joined us to discuss his part in New Zealand's run all
the way to the Cup semi-finals.

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By 1999 Zimbabwe had experienced some fleeting success at World Cups; upsetting Australia in 1983, and Eddo Brandes destroying England in 1992 being the standouts.

The era that followed those landmark wins however, is a beacon for Zimbabwe cricket. Through the 90s they gained test status and steadily built a competitive side. Heath Streak, the Flower brothers and Alistair Campbell were just a few of the players who drive this generation of cricket. 

1999 became Zimbabwe’s global coming out party as a team to be reckoned with, taking big scalps and getting to the business end of the tournament. This may well have been Zimbabwe cricket at its greatest. 

Andy Flower today may be better known as the coach who took England cricket to number 1 in the world, but in ‘99 he was the undisputed champion of this generation of Zimbabwe cricket. He  joins us to talk about the rise of Zimbabwe cricket, who was Neil Johnson, how the team peaked in 1999 and then how things went so wrong  in the country afterwards. 

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As a follow-up to our episode with Tournament Director Terry Blake, Adam Collins talks to Tim Lamb, the CEO of the English & Wales Cricket Board during the 1999 Cricket World Cup. 

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After a trying decade for England cricket, their chance to host the 1999 World Cup was seen as a prized opportunity to revitalize the sport by capturing the public imagination when the carnival came to town. It was a mighty task. 

To do so, a lot needed to go right both on and off the field. Some did, some didn’t – not helped by England’s premature and controversial departure. 

But for all the mishaps that can be looked back on two decades later, such as a lacklustre opening ceremony or a belated tournament theme song, World Cup 99 left a significant and long-lasting legacy due to the cricket that was played and the diverse audiences that packed out the stadiums across the country. 

This was no easy puzzle to piece together, and in an environment before the ICC had complete control over global events, the job was left to a handful of dedicated staff at ECB Headquarters to make it work. 

Terry Blake was the man charged with the overall responsibility as the tournament director. He joins The Greatest Season that Was, World Cup 99, to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the Carnival of Cricket.

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They were called the ‘minnows’ the non-Test playing nations that won their way through to the World Cup. Pre  1999 Sri Lanka, East Africa, Canada, Zimbabwe, Kenya, the Netherlands and the UAE had all played World Cups without Test status.

 In 1999 it was Kenya, Scotland and for the first time ever at a, World Cup Bangladesh.

 While cricket had been played in the region for nearly 200 years, its popularity in the former East Bengal was limited. The Partition of British India saw the region fall under the new East Pakistan, and while popularity did grow, when Bangladesh declared its independence  in 1971 the region lost its first class status and it started the long journey to grow cricket as in independent nation.

 This all leads to the point in 1999 where Bangladesh, after competing limited one-day internationals for 13 years, qualifies to play in its first World Cup after winning the ICC Associate Trophy for the first time in 1997.  

 After a long journey Bangladesh were on the global stage, and while its role in the 1999 World Cup may have been small, it may have been the pivotal moment in building a cricket nation. Today it boasts Test wins against England and Australia – but a lot can be traced back to Ninety9.

 Aminul Islam, or ‘BulBul’ may not be a household name in the cricket world, but he was a veteran of Bangladesh cricket by 1999 and was charged with the duty of taking his country on to the international stage – he tells us the Bangladesh story and why Ninety9 means so much to Bangladeshi cricket.

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If the 1980s was English cricket’s decade of sex, drugs and rock and roll excess, the 1990s were its decidedly milder and meeker decade. An English team that for the most part had been losing, slipped further in the pecking order of world cricket as the sport appeared to slip down the list of priorities for a nation.

Alec Stewart was the constant of this decade of English cricket. IN fact he was highest Test run-scorer in the World during the 1990s. He seemed to be the Mr Fix-it man for a constantly changing and usually  outclassed team. Keeping wickets, not keeping wickets. Opening the batting, batting in the middle order. Wherever there was a gap, Stewart had to fill. By 1998 almost inevitably that meant captaincy too. And it started promisingly too, Stewart leading the team to its first 5 Test series win of the decade that year against South Africa.  

Hopes lifted for what was ahead.

The World Cup was born in the UK in the 1970s, and returned home in 1999 for the first time in 16 years as a global event. It had increased popularity of the sport wherever it had gone. Was this the chance for cricket to reclaim its place in the public consciousness in its birth country?

All that hope rested on Stewart’s cobbled together team as he tried to open the batting, keep and captain…what could go wrong? Alec Stewart joins us to talk about World Cup #Ninety9   

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The Greatest Season That Was Presents...99 The Cricket World Cup. 

Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill are back with a new series that tells the story of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Was it the greatest? 

Let us know what you think on Twitter. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Bad Producer Productions. 

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Was 1999 The Greatest Cricket World Cup there was? Perhaps. 

If not the greatest, what about the quirkiest? The most interesting? Over the next seven weeks, Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill will share their reasons why the 1999 Cricket World Cup was home to some of the most memorable moments in the history of cricket, and therefore the greatest that was.

Episode Two will explore the above questions. Episode Three will feature an in-depth and candid conversation with England's Captain at the time, Alec Stewart. 

Episode Two will arrive on May 29, 2019 and Episode Three will be available Friday, May 31, 2019 (all dates AEST). 

The Greatest Season That Was Presents...99 The Cricket World Cup is produced by Bad Producer Productions. 

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Thanks for supporting The Greatest Season That Was: 93

We'll have an update on our next project soon. In the meantime, our very own Adam Collins, continues to chase summer and cricket in his podcast The Final Word. 

We want to support Adam and his co-host Geoff Lemon, so we're sharing this special episode recorded live at Fitzroy's Commercial Club Hotel on January 17, 2019. 

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Final Word and thanks for your support throughout 2018. We'll be back soon! 

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