Rimet and Rothmans

It is 50 years since Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley - and you can forgive English sporting fans for thinking it was the only World Cup triumph that summer. But, seven weeks later, and about six miles away at Lord's, a far smaller gathering saw Colin Cowdrey raise a slightly precarious piece of silverware made up of a cricket ball balanced on three criss-crossed stumps. This was the Rothmans World Cup, a tournament long forgotten - even by those who took part.

FIFA had scheduled their 1966 World Cup for July, and - in an early example of football's encroachment on cricket's territory - there was a four-week gap between the Third and the Fourth Tests against West Indies. Six days after Charlie Griffith was knocking over John Snow's stumps at Trent Bridge to wrap up a 139-run win for the tourists, England and Uruguay were fighting out a 0-0 draw at Wembley. Neither result looked especially promising.

Rothmans claimed that their own World Cup, added to the fixture list as late as March, was "the most ambitious exercise cricket had ever known". Even its launch was overshadowed by football: that week, the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from a display in London only to be found soon after by Pickles the dog. England, West Indies and a Rest of the World XI would contest three 50-over matches over four days at Lord's in mid-September - more than four years before Australia and England contested the first official one-day international in Melbourne, and three decades before 50 overs became the format's standard length.

The games were brokered by sports agent Bagenal Harvey, who had made his name representing Denis Compton (the first deal he signed for his client involved Compton applying Brylcreem - and Harvey collecting his 10%). A year earlier, he had set up the all-star Rothmans Cavaliers, who played televised limited-overs matches before Sundays huge crowds; venues ranged from Trent Bridge to Hampshire's Tichborne Park, the home of Sir Anthony Doughty-Tichborne. Harvey was nothing if not entrepreneurial.

Australia's Bobby Simpson was to captain the World XI, and - long before viewers were voting for cricketers in spangled shirts on Strictly Come Dancing - the BBC set up a Radio Times readers' poll to choose the other ten from shortlists in five categories (opening batsmen, batsmen, wicketkeepers, fast bowlers, spinners). Compton solemnly told them: "You must bear in mind that some of the famous names may well be better suited than others to this particular form of cricket." Coupons were "published early so that schoolboys home on holiday can have a chance to take part". Of schoolgirls, there was no mention.

With Simpson an automatic choice, there was only one other opening slot: Hanif Mohammed was selected ahead of Eddie Barlow and Bill Lawry. Doug Walters had to withdraw to complete his military service. Despite that, the electorate had settled on a handy side: Simpson (Australia), Hanif (Pakistan), Grahame Thomas (Australia), Graeme Pollock, Colin Bland (both South Africa), the Nawab of Pataudi (India), Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan), Deryck Murray (West Indies), Bapu Nadkarni (India), Peter Pollock (South Africa) and Graham McKenzie (Australia).

Football was everywhere, yet Alf Ramsey's squad sought relaxation at Lord's ahead of the final. Bobby Moore and Martin Peters were keen cricketers, and Geoff Hurst had once played a first-class game for Essex, against Lancashire at Aigburth in 1962, making nought not out from No. 10 and nought from No. 8; he didn't get a bowl, but did take a catch off Jim Laker.

Four years later, as Hurst's hat-trick beat the West Germans at Wembley, Jim Parks - who would make 42 and 33 in the England XI's two Rothmans World Cup matches - was leading Sussex against Gloucestershire at Hove, and saw the goals only on the television highlights. "We had the same agent, so I got to know the three West Ham players very well and would often watch them play. I've been a fan ever since."

English cricketers had played the one-day game since the Gillette Cup began in 1963, but the majority of the World XI had little experience. Even so, they won their only limited-overs warm-up match, against the Cavaliers at Ascott Park, by 46 runs. The cricket World Cup, however, was not officially recognised: at a meeting at Lord's, the minutes recorded that, though MCC "had agreed to send out the invitations, it should be made clear that the teams were not selected by [them]".

England wicketkeeper John Murray confirmed the underwhelming mood: "It wasn't taken that seriously, but it was quite a decent couple of days." In the first match, England easily defended a modest 201 for seven against the Rest. "It was clear that much of the great talent lay dormant because of lack of match practice," said Wisden. The World XI were skittled for 119, with Ken Higgs taking five for 34.

The closest a batsman came to a century in the tournament was Seymour Nurse, with 88 as West Indies also beat the World XI. In the third match - in effect the final - Garry Sobers inserted England, who recovered from a slow start to reach 217. Cowdrey left the field with a muscle injury, so Ted Dexter directed affairs. Wisden recorded: "He brought to bear the considerable knowledge gained in leading Sussex successfully in the Gillette Cup." In what passed back then for one-day tactics, Dexter told his bowlers to "aim at the stumps, pitch it up and, if someone starts whacking it, pitch it up a bit further".

There were no powerplays or fielding restrictions, and the ball came on more slowly off an uncovered wicket. "Ted had it all worked out," said Parks. "He kept the field defensive all the time to put the pressure on." England easily contained the West Indian batting to win by 67 runs, with Higgs picking up four more. Cowdrey hobbled out to lift the trophy. Only 13,036 turned up over the three days. "One would have thought West Indian supporters would have flocked to Lord's," lamented the television commentator, Peter West. "But the Caribbean contingent was pretty thin on the ground. One wonders whether it was fully aware of the matches."

In the tournament's official programme, Crawford White had written optimistically of "an exploratory rocket in space for far more ambitious world level tournaments". Though the Rothmans Cavaliers continued to flourish, their World Cup was repeated only in 1967, with a World XI captained by Garry Sobers seeing off England and Pakistan. Again, crowds were disappointing, and MCC reported "extreme difficulty in finding suitable pitches at that stage of the season". The trophy itself has since vanished (like the Jules Rimet, stolen again in 1983).

Many advocated a football-style World Cup for cricket, but the authorities remained wary. Meanwhile, major changes in domestic cricket were afoot, including a new Sunday League in 1969. Harvey attended a stormy meeting with MCC, and discovered Rothmans were not part of the new order: players were discouraged from taking part in Cavaliers cricket once the League began. MCC denied they had imposed a ban, but it was clear many officials remained suspicious of anything outside their control.

"If we are in a rebel situation it is not by choice," said an angry Harvey. "Cricket will be the loser." To add to the fire, the League was sponsored by Rothmans' cigarette rivals John Player. The Cavaliers continued to play on Sundays, but no longer attracted TV coverage. After 1970, they disappeared from the scene.

The first official men's World Cup did not take place until 1975 (although the women beat them to it by two years). Even then, the organisers insisted on calling it "International Championship Cricket". Those in power seemed astonished that the tournament, won by Clive Lloyd's West Indies, was such a success. England still await their first one-day World Cup. Fifty years of hurt is not merely the preserve of the footballers.