The local organisers of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 have thanked players and fans for making the tournament the most popular in its history.

1,016,421 people attended the 49 matches over 44 days across Australia and New Zealand.

Today’s crowd of 93,013 at the Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground has set a new Australian record for One Day International attendance, surpassing the old record of 87,182 set at the last World Cup Final at the MCG in 1992. It has also set a new record for a single day’s cricket in Australia, surpassing the previous best of 91,112 set at the MCG during the Ashes series in 2013.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Local Organising Committee chief executive John Harnden said the huge crowds, unprecedented social media activity and anticipated global television audience of more than a billion for the tournament as a whole made it the most popular in the World Cup’s 40 year history. The official total tournament attendance is 1,016,421.

“When the Local Organising Committee was set up in 2012 our vision was to inspire passion and participation in a celebration of the game, and the fans have responded beyond our expectations,” Mr Harnden said.

“Overall we have sold out 20 of the 49 matches in this World Cup. Perhaps most satisfying of all, eight of those sold out matches did not involve Australia or New Zealand.

“This has been a real bonus for tourism….but it also shows just how diverse our two countries have become with large numbers of local cricket fans from different backgrounds supporting different teams.

“The support of so many people from our multicultural community groups lifted the tournament and provided an amazing atmosphere at matches, perhaps no more so than the India-South Africa match at the MCG when more than 86,000 people – mostly Indian fans – cheered from the beginning of the match til the end.

“We have never heard anything like it.”

Mr Harnden paid tribute to everyone in cricket and everyone in the host cities and governments for their support of the tournament.

“This really was about everyone working together over a long period,” he said.

“It has been a genuine partnership between New Zealand and Australia from day one.
“Cricket has again demonstrated its popularity and its ability to unite people at a local, national and international level.”