Ian Brayshaw - The Miracle Match: Chappell, Lillee, Richards and the most electric moment in Australian Cricket

I f there are intrinsicdare we say it, old-fashionedvalues in four- and five-day cricket, then the short form in its 40 years of existence has provided a distinctly different beat. Like switching from a Mozart concerto to Queen hammering out We will rock you!a nice cosy room, comfy slippers and a cardigan versus a thumping music arena with speakers blaring and the blood pulsating. The limited-overs game was introduced in English County cricket in 1963 as a potential saviour for flagging clubs finances, and the Gillette Cup tournament was established. The Cup was soon introduced in Australia too, and it was a runaway success. At least in the medium term. In both countries there have been several name changes since, but the immediacy of the one-day format introduced new life and vigour to the game, attracting a new audiencewomen and children. And sending the turnstiles whirling.

In the prime of limited-overs cricket in England, there were as many as three competitions. While the popularity of the game increased, however, concerns were expressed that this hit-and-giggle game would be the end of crickets dyed-in-the-wool adherence to technique. And there was merit in the concern. The pressure to score quickly encouraged batsmen to contradict the norms in pursuit of penetrating a gap in the fieldof making runs in a hurry. In those days there was nothing to prevent a captain placing all of his fieldsmen on the boundary in an attempt to stem the flow of runs. In one particular game, an English captain even had his keeper on the boundary. The great Barry Richards once told me that, playing one-dayers for Hampshire in the County competition, to score a boundary hed been forced to develop a new shot to the defensive pace bowler: glide the ball just wide of the wicketkeeper and just fine of the third man. Victory was so important!

The first One Day International game (ODI) was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 5 January 1971an idea put into play after the Third Test at that ground between Australia and England had been abandoned without a ball being bowled. However, the short form really hit the international stage in 1972, with the scheduling of three games between England and Australia as part of the Ashes tour of England. Three years later, the first of the World Cup tournaments (of 60 overs) was staged in Englandwhen the West Indies scored a narrow victory over Australia in a final played before a lockout crowd at Lords.