2007 Cricket World Cup: A Philatelic tour
International Cricket Council picked up The West Indies as the hosts for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It was held in the West Indies from 13 Mar to 28 April 2007. Apart from 10 teams with ODI status, six other associate members of ICC qualified for this World Cup. They were Kenya, The Netherlands, Scotland, Canada, Ireland and Bermuda. Australia won the World Cup for the third time in a row by beating Sri Lanka in the final.
The World Cup received wide publicity from the postal departments of Countries who were playing in the World Cup. A large number of stamps were issued by various countries. Jamaica issued a set of four stamps on 28 February 2007 to commemorate this sporting event. The stamps featured the former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh, batsman Collie Smith and the Sabina Park, Kingston pitch. All stamps and the first-day cover carry the World cup Logo.
Sri Lanka Post issued a set of two stamps on 23 February 2007 to commemorate this event. A first day cover with stamps of unique shape was issued at Colombo.
Nepal issued a limited edition (500 covers each only) unique commemorative covers to mark the inaugural day and last day of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The inaugural day cover features the flags of all countries and their location on the globe along with the logo of the World Cup. It was released at Kathmandu on 11 March 2007.
The concluding day cover for the finals at Kensington Oval, Barbados was released at Kathmandu, Nepal on 28 April 2007. An orange, anthropomorphic racoon like creature named "Mello" was named as the Mascot for the World Cup. It features the World Cup Trophy and "Mello" the mascot for the World Cup.
Bangladesh also released a set of four stamps on 19 April 2007 to commemorate the World Cup. These four unique stamps show Bangladesh players, Bengal Tiger and the World Cup Trophy.
Sri Lanka Post honoured its team which finished runners-up in the World Cup by releasing two commemorative stamps featuring the team and its star players. The first-day cover also features a slogan "Congratulations.....!!! Runners-up Team - Sri Lanka"
