Squads
There were sixteen teams in 2007 Cricket World Cup. The sixteen teams were asked to announce their final squads by 13 February 2007. Changes were allowed after this deadline at the discretion of the ICCs Technical Committee in necessary cases, such as due to player injury.
Media coverage
The World Cup has grown as a media event with each tournament. The sponsorship and television rights that were awarded primarily to cover the 2003 and 2007 World Cups raised over US$550 m.
[8] The 2007 World Cup was televised in over 200 countries to a viewing audience estimated at more than two billion television viewers and was expected to generate more than 100,000 unique visitors to the West Indies who traveled solely for the tournament.
The 2007 Cricket World Cup featured an orange raccoon-like creature named "Mello" as its mascot. It has been announced during matches that Mello has no race, species, age or gender- it is an attitude, the attitude of the young people of the West Indies. The official song for the World Cup was "The Game of Love and Unity" by Jamaican-born Shaggy, Bajan entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Fay-Ann Lyons.
The 2007 tournament recorded the highest ticketing revenue for a Cricket World Cup, selling more than 672,000.
[11] Although, attendance leading into the semi finals for the 2007 World Cup was 403,000; an average of 8,500 supporters per match.
Leadup
All major Test-playing nations had schedules allowing them to play a large number of One Day International against other major ODI teams just prior to the World Cup. Australia, New Zealand and England took part in the Commonwealth Bank Series where England defeated Australia in the finals. Australia then went to New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, losing 3-0. South Africa played five ODIs against India (South Africa won 4-0) and five against Pakistan (South Africa won 3-1) while India also played four ODIs against the West Indies (India won 3-1) and four ODIs against Sri Lanka (India won 2-1). Bangladesh played four ODIs against Zimbabwe (Bangladesh won 3-1) and won a tri-series against Canada and Bermuda. The associate ODI teams took part in the World Cricket League, which Kenya won, and were also involved in other series prior to the World Cup.
The rankings of the teams at the beginning of the Cricket World Cup were:
| Ranking | Team | Points |
| Ranking | Team | Points |
| 1 |  South Africa | 128 |
| 9 |  Bangladesh | 42 |
| 2 |  Australia | 125 |
| 10 |  Zimbabwe | 22 |
| 3 |  New Zealand | 113 |
| 11 |  Kenya | 0 |
| 4 |  Pakistan | 111 |
| 12 |  Scotland | 0% / 69% |
| 5 |  India | 109 |
| 13 |  Netherlands | 0% / 50% |
| 6 |  Sri Lanka | 108 |
| 14 |  Ireland | 0% / 44% |
| 7 |  England | 106 |
| 15 |  Canada | 0% / 33% |
| 8 |  West Indies | 101 |
| 16 |  Bermuda | 0% / 28% |
Note:Teams 12-16 did not have official ODI rankings leading up to the World Cup; they are ranked based on their win percentage against full members and then wins against associate members prior to the tournament.
Warm-up matches
Prior to the main tournament all 16 nations played a series of warm-up matches to prepare, experiment with different tactics and to help them get acclimated to conditions in the West Indies. The warm-up matches were not considered as official ODIs.
[14] The matches were played from Monday 5 March until Friday 9 March. The matches included a surprise victory by Bangladesh over New Zealand.
Opening ceremony
Alison Hinds performing during the ceremony.
Fireworks in the opening ceremony of the 2007 Cricket World Cup
The Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony was held on Sunday, 11 March 2007, at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica.
[15]
It featured over 2000 dancers and performers representing all strands of West Indian music, from calypso and ragga to reggae and soca; among the performers were Sean Paul, Byron Lee, Kevin Lyttle, Beres Hammond, Lucky Dube, Buju Banton, Half Pint, Arrow, Machel Montano, Alison Hinds, Tony Rebel, Third World, Gregory Isaacs, David Rudder, Shaggy, the I Threes and Jimmy Cliff.
The ceremony, attended by several heads of state including the Governor-General of Jamaica started with an address by Sir Garfield Sobers; there were messages from the Prime Ministers of Jamaica and Grenada.
Rules and regulations
Matches
The matches were One Day Internationals and operated under normal ODI rules. All matches were to be 50 overs a side unless stated otherwise by the umpires or match referee. A bowler was able to bowl a maximum of 10 overs per match.
In the event of bad weather, each side must have batted a minimum of 20 overs for a result to be declared (if the match was not otherwise won, for example if the team batting second was dismissed before the completion of 20 overs). In the event of bad weather, the Duckworth-Lewis method was applied to determine the result or target. If no result was declared on the scheduled day, the teams returned the next day to complete the game, with the same situation as when the game was abandoned.
There was a new rule regarding referral of catches to the TV replay official (third umpire): if the standing umpires were unable to determine whether a catch had been taken cleanly, and/or whether a claimed catch was a "bump ball", they had discretion to refer the decision to the third umpire. Also,
whilst reviewing such a catch via TV replay if it was clear to the third umpire that the batsman did not hit the ball, he was to indicate that the batsman was not out.
Tournament points
In the Group Stage and in the Super 8 Stage points were awarded as follows:
Points | Results | Points |
| Win | 2 points |
| Tie/No Result | 1 point |
| Loss | 0 points |
The top two teams from each group advanced to the Super 8 stage and any points they earned against the other qualifier from their own group was carried through. Points earned against the non qualifying teams in the same pool were not carried over. In the Super 8s, each team played the six remaining qualifiers from the other groups and the top four teams went through to the semi-finals. Positions were decided by most points. Where two or more teams were tied on points, the following methods in turn were used to decide which team went through:
- Most wins in their group or in Super 8 whichever is applicable
- Higher net run rate
- Higher number of wickets taken per ball
- Winners of head to head matches
- The drawing of lots
Umpires
The umpiring panel for the 2007 Cricket World Cup comprised nine umpires from the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires (the only member not included was Darrell Hair), and nine umpires from the international panel. The refereeing panel comprises seven members from the Elite Panel of ICC Referees, with Clive Lloyd not being included due to his role as West Indies' team manager. Aleem Dar went on to stand as an umpire in his first World Cup final, alongside Steve Bucknor who was appearing in his fifth final in a row - extending his record of four from the 2003 World Cup.
Groups
Seeds
The tournament began with a league stage consisting of four groups of four. Each team played each of the other teams in its group once. Australia, India, England and West Indies were placed in separate pools for logistical reasons, as they were expected to have the most supporters in attendance, and transport and accommodation capacity in the West Indies is limited.
The groups are listed below, with seedings (rankings from April 2005) shown in brackets. Each group played all of its matches at a single ground.
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
Australia (1)
South Africa (5)
Scotland (12)
Netherlands (16)
| Sri Lanka (2)
India (6)
Bangladesh (11)
Bermuda (15)
| New Zealand (3)
England (7)
Kenya (10)
Canada (14)
| Pakistan (4)
West Indies (8)
Zimbabwe (9)
Ireland (13)
|
System
The tournament was preceded by a number of warm-up matches to acclimatise the players. The Group Stage matches started on Tuesday 13 March and finished on Sunday 25 March. There were a total of 24 matches played in the group stage.
The top two teams in each group proceeded to the "Super 8" stage which will also use a league system. Each team carried forward its result against the other team qualifying from its preliminary stage group, and will play the other six qualifying teams once each. The top four teams in the league will qualify for the semi-finals. This system has been modified since the last World Cup, which had a "Super 6" stage rather than a Super 8. The Super 8 stage matches will be played from Tuesday 27 March until Saturday 21 April. A total of 24 matches will be played in the Super 8 stage.
The top four teams in the "Super 8" will advance to the Semi-Finals. This is the knockout stage, with the #1 team playing the #4 team, and the #2 team playing the #3 team in the tournament. The winners of the two semi-finals will play each other in the Final.
All tournament matches will have one reserve day (the day after the scheduled day of the match) to allow for matches to be completed in the event of bad weather.