Nathan Astle

Innings: 22

Ducks: 5

Astle got the 1996 World Cup going with a century in the opening match, before his form deserted him on cricket's biggest stage. Two blobs sandwiched scores of 1, 2, 6, 1, 4, 4 and 2 over two World Cups. In 2003, he had an unbeaten century against Zimbabwe, but that was promptly followed by two more zeroes in the Super Sixes.

Australian Shane Warne gestures with joy after dismissing Ijaz Ahmed AFP

Ijaz Ahmed

Innings: 26

Ducks: 5

Ijaz scored five zeroes in four World Cups. The first of those was in perhaps the most significant washed-out ODI of all - against England in 1992, when Pakistan escaped with a point despite being bowled out for 74 and earned a point that helped them make the semi-finals. The last was in another significant game - the defeat in 1999 to Bangladesh, which speeded up their entry into the Test club.

Kyle McCallan was bowled for a duck AFP

Kyle McCallan

Innnings:8

Ducks: 4

Offspinning allrounder McCallan took 10 wickets at 23.30 to finish as one of Ireland's most effective bowlers in the 2007 World Cup. He was less effective with the bat: starting with two zeroes and finishing with another. McCallan had only five ducks in his three-year ODI career, but four of them came in just over a month in the West Indies.

Keith Arthurton Getty Images

Keith Arthurton

Innings: 13

Ducks: 4

Whenever the conversation veers to woeful batting performances at the World Cup, West Indian batsman Arthurton's name pops up. His 1996 double dose of a batting average of 0.40 and bowling average of 106.00 will be tough to top.

AB de Villiers plays an outrageous shot AFP

AB de Villiers

Innings: 15

Ducks: 4

He may well be the world's best all-format batsman, but de Villiers could end up with an unwanted record. His feast-and-famine 2007 World Cup included four zeroes and a couple of masterclasses - an audacious 92 in pursuit of Australia's 377, and a brutal 146 against West Indies. He faced few problems in 2011, though, with two more hundreds, and looked a class apart in the quarter-final before his run-out precipitated another early South Africa exit.

Honourable mention:

Kenya's Shem Ngoche: three balls faced in the World Cup, three ducks.