Australia and New Zealand opted for modest understatement as the 2015 World Cup co-hosts officially opened the tournament with concurrent opening ceremonies in Melbourne and Christchurch yesterday.

In 45 days’ time Melbourne will stage the final of a tournament that has, since its inception in 1975, become the flagship event for international cricket.

While the likes of established powers England, South Africa, India and Australia will bid for glory in the next few weeks, the 14-team tournament will offer a celebration of the cultural convergence cricket has not always been inclined to fully embrace.

Most significantly, war-torn Afghanistan will take their bow at the 50-over showpiece for the first, and perhaps, last time following the International Cricket Council’s decision to reduce the World Cup to 10 teams in England in four years’ time.

Nonetheless, the sight of their beaming captain Mohammad Nabi leading the rest of his fellow captains into the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne offered a poignant reminder of cricket's global reach.

Indeed, more than one billion people are set to tune in to the World Cup – making it the biggest sporting event of the year .

The tournament gets under way tomorrow when Australia take on England in a blockbuster encounter in front of a 90,000-strong MCG full-house on Valentine’s Day.