1987 CWC winners receive medals 30 years later

The International Cricket Council (ICC) joined forces with Cricket Australia (CA) on Sunday to recognise Australia’s World Cup winners of 1987.

Allan Border’s squad won the fourth edition of the tournament staged in India and Pakistan beating England by seven runs in the final in what was then known as Calcutta but never received medals for their success, according to ICC’s media release.

That was put right during the break between innings at the One-Day International between Australia and Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground when the 14 players and three support staff were presented with medals by CA Chairman and ICC Director Mr David Peever.

The presentation followed a decision made by the ICC’s Chief Executives’ Committee (ICC CEC) in June 2016 that all World Cup winning teams not awarded medals at the time of their triumph would be recognised, with the Australia side of 1987 being the first to benefit.

The ICC CEC agreed that the ICC would provide the medals for the squads while the relevant Member – in this case, Australia – would be responsible for organising their awarding. ICC Women’s World Cup winners will also be recognised in the same way.

Until 2003, host Members were responsible for the staging of World Cups and the ICC was not directly involved.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “Our World Cup events have a rich history and winning a global event is the pinnacle of any individual’s career. So to provide those players and support staff involved with medals to commemorate their achievement is a worthy and wholly appropriate course of action.”

Allan Border said: “We are grateful to Cricket Australia and the ICC for this being done.

“It’s terrific to get together again as a group, relive those days and have a laugh but also realise what it was we achieved in becoming the first Australia side to win the World Cup.

“It’s an achievement that binds all 17 of us together and something we all look back on with not just pride but also a great deal of satisfaction.”