1979 ICC Trophy
The 1979 ICC Trophy was a limited overs cricket tournament held in England between 22 May and 21 June 1979. It was the inaugural ICC Trophy tournament to be staged, with matches between the 15 participating teams played over 60 overs a team and with white clothing and red balls. All matches were played in the Midlands.
The tournament served as the Cricket World Cup qualification process – the two finalists, Sri Lanka and Canada, qualified to take part in the 1979 World Cup. The World Cup began on 9 June, just three days after Sri Lanka and Canada qualified for it by winning their ICC Trophy semi-finals. The ICC Trophy final was held on 21 June at Worcestershire's ground at New Road, two days before the World Cup final. Sri Lanka won the first ICC Trophy defeating Canada by 60 runs in the final.
East Africa who played in the first World Cup did not qualify this time, which meant there would be no nation from the African region participating in the 1979 World Cup.
Squads
Competition format
The 15 teams were divided into three groups of five. Each team played each other team in its group once in matches played between 22 May and 4 June, scoring four points for a win and two for a no-result or abandoned entirely without a ball being bowled. The three group winners and the team with the fourth-highest points total after the group stage went forward to the semi-finals, the top team playing the fourth-ranked team and the team with the second-highest number of points playing the third. Where teams finished with equal points totals, run rate was used to separate them.Group matches
''Note: A number of matches used their allotted reserve day.''Group A
Points table
Fixtures
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Group B
Points Table
Fixtures
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Group C
Points table
Fixtures
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Knockout Stage
Semi-finals
----Final
Statistics
Most runs
The top five run scorers are included in this table.| Player | Team | Runs | Inns | Avg | Highest | 100s | 50s |
| Duleep Mendis | 221 | 4 | 55.25 | 68 | 0 | 3 | |
| Roy Dias | 214 | 4 | 71.33 | 88 | 0 | 2 | |
| John Vaughan | 211 | 6 | 70.33 | 80* | 0 | 2 | |
| Henrik Mortensen | 196 | 5 | 98.00 | 55* | 0 | 2 | |
| Franklyn Dennis | 172 | 6 | 28.66 | 61 | 0 | 1 |
Source:
Most wickets
The top five wicket takers are listed in this table, listed by wickets taken and then by bowling average.| Player | Team | Overs | Wkts | Ave | SR | Econ | Best |
| John Vaughan | 67.5 | 14 | 16.21 | 29.07 | 3.34 | 4/33 | |
| Winston Trott | 47.0 | 10 | 8.00 | 28.20 | 1.70 | 3/8 | |
| Lawrence Young Ken Sen | 31.1 | 10 | 10.10 | 18.70 | 3.24 | 5/44 | |
| Ashraful Haque | 36.2 | 10 | 10.70 | 21.80 | 2.94 | 7/23 | |
| Ole Mortensen | 56.4 | 10 | 12.90 | 34.00 | 2.27 | 4/15 |
Source: