The men's Cricket World Cup is officially returning to Africa next year, marking 24 years since the continent last hosted the tournament. Scheduled to run from October 4 to November 11 next year, the tournament will see 14 teams compete across eight venues in South Africa, alongside Harare, Bulawayo, and Victoria Falls—which is currently under construction—in Zimbabwe, and the newly built Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek.
The tournament's venues and striking African branding were officially unveiled on Thursday during a glittering launch event at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg. The celebration, set against a sunset over the club's polo field, was attended by sports ministers from the three host nations, cricket administrators, and prominent South African players, including Makhaya Ntini, Temba Bavuma, Hashim Amla, and Kagiso Rabada.
The launch evoked strong memories of the 2003 World Cup, which took place from February 9 to March 23 across South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. That tournament featured 14 teams and a memorable zebra mascot named Dazzler, inspired by the collective noun for a group of zebras. For many players, the 2003 event was a defining moment in their careers and lives.
Makhaya Ntini recalled the immense pride of participating in the opening ceremony. "I was asked to carry the flag at the opening ceremony, and that is something that can never be taken away from me," Ntini shared. In the opening match at a wet and windy Newlands, Ntini dismissed Brian Lara, who scored 116 to lead the West Indies to a narrow three-run victory over the hosts. Despite taking such a prized wicket, Ntini rated carrying the flag as his ultimate highlight.
Temba Bavuma, who was 12 years old at the time, admitted he did not watch the matches. "No, I didn't," Bavuma said. "I do know we didn't do well. My memory of the tournament is the zebra. I had a cricket bat that had the zebra pattern on the grip."
South Africa's campaign in 2003 ended in heartbreak 22 days after their opening loss. On another wet and windy night, this time at Kingsmead, Shaun Pollock's team matched the Duckworth-Lewis par score against Sri Lanka. The resulting tie eliminated South Africa in the first round, prompting loud cheers from Zimbabwean fans in Bulawayo. Ntini reflected on the painful exit, saying, "Whatever it was that happened to us in Durban, it must never happen again."
For Hashim Amla, who was 19 at the time, the tournament was a source of pure inspiration. "I was 19 years old and I was watching my heroes play," Amla said. "It was an amazing time to have a World Cup here, and it inspired me and a lot of other people to want to play for South Africa."
Kagiso Rabada, who was eight years old in 2003, recalled having "recollective memories" of the event. "I was eight years old in 2003 and I didn't know much about cricket," Rabada noted. "But, as the years went by, what did I remember? Ponting getting a hundred in the final, Brian Lara getting a hundred against South Africa, Shoaib Akhtar [bowling at] 160, Brett Lee was on fire…"
Rabada also made a Freudian slip regarding South Africa's elimination, saying the team "lost to Duckworth-Lewis" before quickly trying to correct himself: "I mean, not to Duckworth-Lewis…"
The 2003 tournament featured legendary individual performances. On February 22 at Newlands, Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar bowled a historic delivery to left-hander Nick Knight on the final ball of his fourth over. Though Knight worked the ball to midwicket for a dot, the scoreboard soon flashed "161.3 KM/H" to the applause of the crowd. Australia's Brett Lee would bowl his own fastest delivery, clocked at 161.1 km/h, in an ODI in Napier exactly two years after the 2003 final. Lee also took 10 more wickets than Akhtar during the tournament, though Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas finished as the leading wicket-taker with 23 dismissals.
The early exit of the hosts made the final between Australia and India at the Wanderers feel like an afterthought for many South Africans. Ricky Ponting's unbeaten 140 decided the championship, a result that felt inevitable after Sachin Tendulkar's pull off the fifth ball of the innings went high to short midwicket, where Glenn McGrath took a simple return catch. Next year, the region will get another chance to host cricket's showpiece event, with fans and players already looking forward to the historic return.
Nobody took more than Chaminda Vaas’ 23, but as he wasn’t a firebrand he wouldn’t be uppermost in the memory of modern marvels.
Inside, a significant contingent of the great and the good from far and wide in the game — as well as the three countries’ sports ministers — were in smartly dressed attendance.
