Defending champion Sri Lanka was grouped with host England, as
India and South Africa when the draw for the 1999 World Cup
cricket championship was made on Thursday, July 11.
Zimbabwe and the runner up in the ICC trophy competition for non-Test playing teams are in the same group.
Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies, three of the strongest teams in the competition, are in the other group along with New Zealand, the ICC trophy winner and the third place team.
Each team will play five round-robin matches in each group. The top three teams in each group will then play against each other in a group format and these nine games will decide the final league positions.
The top four teams then go on to the semifinals with the first playing against the fourth and the second meeting the third to decide who plays in the final at Lord's.
The competition will involve a total of 42 matches and will be staged during June 1999.
The three associate member countries to qualify for the 1999 World Cup will take part in the ICC trophy event in Kuala Lumpur starting on March 23.