It was originally proposed that South Africa host the World Cup, but this was abandoned to conform with the Apartheid-era sporting boycott of the country.

[1] Along with India, which was making its debut, five other teams were originally invited – Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the West Indies.

The Netherlands and the West Indies, which had both not previously participated, were forced to withdraw due to financial issues.

[2] England's Megan Lear later recounted that the "most memorable part of [the] tournament was playing in front of crowds of 40,000 plus".

[12] The top five runscorers are included in this table, ranked by runs scored and then by batting average.