As the band's team marked their progress in the incremental growth of ticket sales, debut album "Sigh No More" was growing in step.

WSJ: Not Your Granny's Grammys

Though there has been a rise in the number of civil-society groups trying to pick up the pieces, progress is marked in baby-steps.

ECONOMIST: Social change in Japan

But they have suffered a marked downturn in fortunes since then and having failed to progress beyond the first round of the 2003 World Cup on home soil, they have lost 11 of their last 12 one-day internationals.

BBC: SPORT | Cricket | Other International | South Africa | Jennings promoted by South Africa

It was a schism that led to the formation of the establishment-approved Women's Tennis Association in 1973 -- which will be marked this year by the WTA's "40 Love" commemorative campaign, a celebration of four decades of progress in the women's game.

CNN: How women cracked tennis' glass ceiling