1983
Cricket World Cup⁠

How England performed

Led by Bob Willis, England returned to the World Cup in 1983 looking to improve on their runners-up finish four years earlier, with the tournament again held in England and Wales. Group A brought six matches, and England won five of them. They opened with 322/6 to beat New Zealand by 106 runs at The Oval, then made 333/9 to beat Sri Lanka by 47 runs at Taunton. Pakistan were beaten twice, by 8 wickets at Lord's and by 7 wickets at Old Trafford, and Sri Lanka were dismissed for 136 at Headingley as England won the return fixture by 9 wickets. The one group setback came at Edgbaston, where England were bowled out for 234 and New Zealand reached their target in the final over to win by 2 wickets.

The semi-final against India at Old Trafford ended the run. England were dismissed for 213, and India reached 217/4 in 54.4 overs to win by 6 wickets, leaving England as beaten semi-finalists with five wins and two defeats from seven matches.

Head coach

None (the first was appointed in 1986)

Captain

Bob Willis

Record

P7 W5 D0 L2