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[suraj]

One Day cricket has gone through many transitional phases to arrive at its current avatar. Unlike Test cricket, the rules of the limited-overs version of the game have been continuously changing.

Some of these rules have stayed unchanged since their inception while others have been discarded for new ones after a few seasons. Here are some of the laws of the game that have been devised over the years to make limited overs cricket more exciting for viewers and fairer for the players:

Rain-hit matches

During the early days of ODI cricket, the side that had lost fewer wickets when the game was interrupted was declared the winner. The rule was then changed on the basis of average. The team batting second would win if their average at the time of interruption was higher than the other team's, if not, then the team that batted first was declared the winner.

Perhaps the simplest version of the rule was when the scores of the two teams were compared. For example, if a match was stopped in the 35th over of the team batting second, the score in the 35th over of the team that batted first was compared with the second team's. The team with the higher score won.

The Rain Rule was applied during the 1992 ICC Cricket World Cup. This rule was too convoluted for laymen and almost all the teams objected to it. In the semi final of the tournament, after interruption due to rain, South Africa were given a target of 22 runs in one ball to beat England.

Currently the Duckworth-Lewis system is in place.

No Balls and Wides

While earlier in ODIs No Balls and Wides were calculated as Extras, it was only from 1983-84 that these were credited to the bowlers' figures.

During the 1992 ICC Cricket World Cup, bouncers were designated No Balls. This rule was relaxed later and one bouncer above shoulder height per over was allowed. The second bouncer, however, would be a No Ball.

At around the same time, umpires were instructed to be very strict about balls on the leg side. These days umpires might call a ball 'Wide' if it passes less than a foot away from the leg stump.

The 30-yard Circle

The 30-yard circle rule stated that only two fielders could be placed outside the circle during the first 15 overs. This allowed batsmen to hit lofty shots and score at a faster pace.

Under the recently-added Power Play rule, the 30-yard field restriction has increased to 20 overs. It is compulsory for the first 10 overs and the fielding side captain can then chose two spells of five overs each for the remaining Power Plays anytime during the innings.

The balls

To counter the effect of dew and other wetness on the ground in the early days of Day-Night cricket, two white balls were used during an innings, one from each end.

Day-Night games

Cricket under floodlights was actually a Kerry Packer invention. The first ICC-authorized Day-Night game under floodlights was played between Australia and West Indies at the Sydney Cricket ground on November 27, 1979. Australia won by 5 wickets.

Around the same time, the white 'ducks' gave way to coloured uniforms and the red balls were replaced with white ones as they were easier to see under lights. As the balls changed from red to white, the sight screens too had to be changed from white to black.

The umpires

The 3rd umpire (TV umpire) entered the One Day scene during the 1992-93 South Africa-India series; both in the Tests and ODIs. The first batsman to be given out by a 3rd Umpire in a Test match was Sachin Tendulkar who was run out by Jonty Rhodes. South African captain Kepler Wessels became the first man to be adjudged run out by a TV umpire in an ODI.

Match referees came into the picture during the same series. The first match referee was West Indian legend Clive Lloyd. The India-South Africa series of 1992-93 will be remembered not only for the ICC nominated match referee, but also for neutral umpires. The first neutral umpire from ICC was West Indian Steve Bucknor.

Super Sub

The Super Sub rule was implemented by the ICC in 2005. The 12th man of a team, as per the rule, could bat and bowl in ODI cricket. The rule, however, has been withdrawn in 2006.

[WicketView]

Nice compilation. The other side of the story is how the way the game is played has changed.

By the way, I think the rain rule in 1992 that led to the 22 run fiasco was not too complicated ... it was after this that the rules became hard. In 1992, if N overs were available to the team batting second, the target would be the runs scored from the N most expensive overs that they bowled.