Cricket World Cup History: 2 players who won the tournament as both player and coach

We are less than 48 hours away from the 12th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup. The tournament opener will be contested between South Africa and host nation England on 30 May 2019. Though England lost one of their warm-up matches against Australia, they will enter the tournament as favorites.

Getting a place in the World Cup squad and winning the tournament is the ultimate dream for any cricketer. However, only a handful of people are blessed enough to achieve goal. Among them, two cricketers have achieved a rare and unique feat of winning the World Cup as both player and coach.

Interestingly, both the players belong to the same nation. Let us look at those two players:

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#1 Geoff Marsh (Australia)

The Marsh Family with Geoff Marsh at the center

Geoff Marsh made his World Cup debut during the 1987 edition. The right-handed opening batsman dominated the tournament along with his fellow opening partner, David Boon. The duo’s contributions played a significant role in Australia clinching their first World Cup trophy.

Marsh scored 428 runs in his eight innings with two centuries and one half-century. He finished third in the run-getters' list with only his partner Boon (447) and England’s Graham Gooch (471) ahead of him.

However, in the 1992 edition of World Cup, Marsh managed to play only five games. He failed to repeat his previous edition’s heroics; he managed to score only 151 runs with just a single half-century.

After retiring from cricket in 1994, Marsh became the coach of Australia in 1996. Under his leadership, Australia won their second World Cup at the 1999 edition.

Remarkably, the rampant Australian team won seven consecutive matches in that tournament. In the process, Marsh became the first player to win the World Cup as both a player and coach.

#2 Darren Lehmann (Australia)

Lehmann with the 2015 World Cup

Darren Lehmann made his World Cup debut during the 1999 edition. Though it was a successful tournament for Australia, Lehmann play a very small role in that success; in eight innings, he managed to score only 136 runs with just a single half-century. He didn't even roll his arm much in the tournament because of the presence of various quality bowlers in the Australian squad.

In the 2003 World Cup, Lehmann scored 224 runs in his eight innings with two half-centuries. With the ball, he picked up six wickets in seven innings at an economy rate of 3.83. Australia ended up successfully retaining their trophy and in the process became the first team to win the World Cup thrice. They also remained unbeaten in the entire tournament.

In June 2013, Lehmann became Australia's coach ahead of the Ashes series in England. Apart from the two Ashes victories, Australia won the 2015 World Cup on their home soil during Lehmann’s tenure. With that victory, Lehmann became the second player to win the World Cup as both player and coach.

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