Innovations in Sport: the Rise of OneDay Internationals (ODIs) in Cricket

Julian Robinson

The rise of one day internationals has been influenced by spectators' desires for a shorter,more exciting version of the game with a mass appeal and by cricketing associations'recognition of the significant contribution it makes to their financial coffers. This articleseeks to show how the diffusion of ODIs resembled that of an S curve with slow uptake bytest-playing nations in the early 1970s to the present day, with all the test-playing nations andthree non-playing nations participating in the World Cup. It then discusses how ODI was an`alpha' innovation that has created the conditions for the development of many smaller or`beta' innovations.

Factors influencing innovation

C ricket at the highest level (test cricket)is played over five days with the com-

peting teams each playing a maximum oftwo innings. It is a relatively long game,starting at 10.30 in the morning and ending at5.30 in the afternoon, with two breaks forlunch and tea, of a combined time of onehour. From a spectator point of view, itrequires the commitment of a minimum ofan entire day.

Over a period of many decades, spectatorsfound this version of the game too long andtime-consuming to watch and its appealbecame limited to enthusiastic cricket fans. Itcould be argued that both push and pullfactors have resulted in the innovations incricket and the rise in ODIs.

Pull factor

The rise of ODIs is related to the need to finda version of the game that would supplementthe traditional five day game and appeal to amass audience. Cricket has to compete withother sources of entertainment and othersports, which have much shorter time hori-zons. A spectator could watch a football orbasketball game by only sacrificing about twohours of his time, however a cricket gamewould require a seven hour `sacrifice'. Inaddition to the length of test matches, the less

appreciative spectator found it rather un-attractive that a single game played over fivedays could end without a result. The ODIprovided this definitive result without theprospect of a stalemate. Spectators wantedentertainment in the form of ODIs with theirnon stop action and often nail biting finishes.

Push factor

Towards the end of the 1970s and the early1980s sports `spectating' became accessible towider audiences through the emergence oftelevision coverage. Millions of individualsfrom all over the world could watch aparticular event, made possible by the break-throughs in satellite and telecommunicationstechnology. There was a need to find aversion of the game that would not onlyappeal to a mass audience but would beattractive for television sponsorship by rais-ing revenues for the teams and countryassociations. The ODI provided this, assponsorship from television became a majorsource of revenue for financing a relativelyexpensive game. The associations saw ODIsas a major cash cow and those spectators whocould not afford the time and money commit-ments of a five day game saw ODIs as anattractive substitute. ODIs became regularschedules in tour itineraries as cash hungrycricket associations realised their financialworth.

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Theories of the diffusion ofinnovations

The S curve

The theory of the S curve is basically that inthe initial period of an innovation there are afew individuals actively taking up the inno-vation. There is a subsequent increase inparticipation, which can be described as thebandwagon effect, then a levelling off as thereare few individuals left to take up theinvitation. If the individuals adopting areplotted over time an S curve would emerge.

The diffusion of ODIs appears to follow theS curve closely. Initially, in the 1970s, ODIswere an aberration. The games were usuallyscheduled between test matches to giveplayers a `leisurely break' from the rigoursof the five day game. The success of the firstWorld Cup of 1975 in bringing together allthe test playing nations in one premier com-petition, increased the popularity of ODIs.However, it was not until Kerry Packer'sinnovations towards the end of the 1970s inAustralia, that the commercial gain of ODIswas realised.

Most of the test playing nations began toschedule ODIs as a regular part of theirfixtures because of their spectator popularity.This continued in the 1980s right up to thepresent. This period could be described as theuptake or `bandwagon effect'. The World Cupjust concluded, saw the introduction of threenon test-playing nations in Kenya, The UnitedArab Emirates and Holland, who would bethe late adopters. One of the positive out-comes of the shock defeat of the West Indiesby Kenya is the successful efforts at diffusingthis ODI innovation to non traditional testplaying nations. There are fewer and fewercountries left to take up the innovation and sothe curve is levelling off.

The success of Sri Lanka in the 1996 WorldCup is yet another example of how thisinnovation has diffused to non-traditionalcountries and how a nation has revised itsstrategies and tactics and adapted to themodern version of the game using technologyto assist. One strategy successfully employedby Sri Lanka is to bat aggressively and scoreheavily in the early overs of the games whenthe field placing restrictions are in place.

`Alpha' and `beta' innovations

One of the more influential theories on thediffusion of innovations is that postulated bythe Austrian economist, Joseph Schumpeter.Schumpeter's theory was that an entrepre-neurially-driven innovation is a two step

process of discovery followed by diffusionor exploitation. Initially there is an `alpha'innovation that produces the conditions formany smaller or `beta' innovations. One-daycricket was an innovation in its own right(`alpha' innovation), but has produced anumber of smaller or `beta' innovationswhich will be discussed below. It might beargued that test cricket was the alpha inno-vation, and that one-day cricket one of thebeta innovations. This is less clear, as weshould be able to find a large number of suchvariants.

Tactics

One of the areas on which the rise of ODIs hashad the greatest impact, is fielding. The skilllevels of fielders have to be of a much higherstandard because of the need to restrict theruns scored by the batting team within thelimited number of `overs' (six balls bowled bya given bowler). Additionally, the traditionalfield placing positions have been replacedby positions that bring players into muchgreater contact with the ball. For example, in atest match, the typical fast bowler would relaxat fine or long leg for most of the match.However in an ODI, he is drawn into muchgreater participation by being placed at thirdman or even mid off. This increased partici-pation requires that his fielding skills be of ahigh standard or else he will be a liability tohis team.

One day cricket is increasingly becoming abatsman's game. Most of the wickets pre-pared are done so to suit the batsmen,because spectators prefer to watch a highscoring game dominated by batsmen. Thishas made it difficult for bowlers to do welland has increased the importance of payinggreater attention to line and length. Themargin of error for bowlers is very smallbecause bad balls are dispatched to theboundary. Bowlers also need to have greatcontrol so they can bowl to their fieldplacements. For example, for fast bowlers,the traditional fine leg is replaced by a deepbackward square leg, which means anydelivery on mid off leg to leg stump is aneasy opportunity for the batsman to glance tofine leg for four runs.

While the balance in ODIs seems to be inthe favour of batsmen, there is greaterdemand on their skills levels encouragingthem to be innovative in stroke play. Fieldplacements are typically defensive making itdifficult for batsmen to score freely. Twoinnovative shots have emerged from the riseof ODIs. The reverse sweep, done againsta slow bowler, has proved productive for

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batsmen and difficult for fielding captains toset appropriate fields. Another innovativeshot, is running the ball through the vacantslip area down to third man. Both shotsrequire great skill and control on the part ofthe batsmen and are high risk, high rewardinnovations. Attractive and crowd pleasingwhen they come off, they earn the damnationof coaches and commentators in failure.

With skills levels of fielders increasing,placing the ball as opposed to simply power-ing it, is more important. To score runsagainst a defensive field, finding the gaps isimportant. This requires great skill and thesuccessful ODI batsmen are those that haveexcellent technique.

The restrictions of having only two playersoutside the fielding circle in the first 15 overs,have made quick scoring in this periodessential to the fortunes of the batting team.The traditional opener in test matches, shouldideally be able to bat through two to threesessions and lay the foundation for his team.This type of player has to adapt for the oneday game and has to be more aggressive earlyin his innings. There are a few openers whocan perform both roles very well and as suchmost teams promote a hard hitting middleorder batsman to open the innings. The hopeis that this player will do better, playing whatwould be considered his natural game. Againthis could be considered a high risk, highreward strategy because the player promotedto open takes more risks early and couldeasily be dismissed attempting a rash stroke.Of interest, a couple of British newspapershave coined the American baseball phrase`pinch hitter' to describe this kind of player.The success of Sri Lanka in the recentlyconcluded World Cup was largely due tothe effective exploitation of this strategy. Mostof the other test playing nations have nowfollowed such a strategy specifically selecting`pinch hitters' for ODIs.

One area of batting that has been affectedprofoundly by the rise of ODIs is speed ofrunning between the wickets. Scoring bound-aries is not easily done against good bowlingwith defensive field placements, and battingteams have recognised the importance oftaking quick singles against good bowling tokeep the score board ticking over. This meansthat the overall fitness levels of batsmen haveto be high and the communication betweenthe players at the crease excellent.

The rise of ODIs has seen with it, thedemand for players who possess all-roundskills. Generalists are now preferred tospecialists as involvement in all areas of thegame is required of most players. There areoccasions where front line bowlers have to be

pulled out of the attack because they areexpensive and part time bowlers have to chipin to fill the gap. Lower order batsmen aresometimes required to make twenty or thirtyruns needed to win a game. This has meantthat specialist players have had to work ontheir weaker skills to provide a balance forthe team.

Rules

As mentioned before, the one day game isincreasingly becoming a batsman's game.Many of the rules of the game have beenadapted to suit batsmen. Wides (penaltyruns) are called, for just about any deliverythat is pitched outside the leg stump. It ismore difficult for batsmen to score, whendeliveries are outside their pads and callingwides is a measure to penalise bowlers andensure that there is a `fair' contest betweenbat and ball. Wides are also called fordeliveries more than 12 inches outside theoff stump. Again, the rationale is to givebatsmen a fair opportunity to score. It isinteresting how this rule has affected thefive-day game. In the recently concludedEnglish tour of South Africa, Dominic Corkwas no balled for consistently bowling downthe leg side in a test match although thedeliveries were not wide. The umpire'sexplanation was that his bowling was `un-gentlemanly' conduct in the sense that thebowler was not giving the batsman a fairopportunity to score.

Another rule that has emerged in ODIs isthe no-ball, (penalty runs) for any deliverythat is short pitched and bounces aboveshoulder height. Again, the rationale is toensure a fair opportunity for the batsmento score.

Yet another rule which favours batsmen isthe field placement restrictions of havingonly two players outside a fielding circle inthe first fifteen overs. This allows the batsmenthe opportunity to hit over the in-field andscore boundaries. This rule enhances runscoring and in so doing increases spectatormass appeal.

One of the truly fascinating technologicalinnovations resulting from ODIs is the use ofa third umpire. The third umpire usingtelevision replays adjudges run out decisions,which are too close for the standing umpiresto decide with the naked eye. The numberof decisions made by the third umpire inODIs has increased significantly, as the gameis characterised by risk-taking in runningbetween the wickets. This innovation hasbenefited the game and ensures that both

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sides are treated fairly in close decisions.Possibly, the only drawback that televisionreplays have had, is that there is greaterscrutiny paid to umpires' decisions and theirculpability is exposed in an environmentwhere human error is viewed as cheating.

The post-Packer era in world cricketwitnessed the tightening of tour scheduleswith players being required to play constantcricket. In addition to more games, thepressures of ODIs are immense. Scoring ona sustained basis between five to six runs anover and bowling and fielding in a freneticenvironment brought the need for greaterphysical preparation and a far more athleticapproach to the game. Most teams employphysiotherapists and have coaches withknowledge of the appropriate diets and formsof exercise needed to sustain physical exer-tion for long periods of time.

Spectator appeal

Apart from the fact that the one day gameappeals to a mass audience in a way that thetraditional five day game does not, newinnovations have been introduced to enhancespectator appeal.

Clothing is one area that has changedsignificantly since Kerry Packer. No longerare players wearing the traditional whiteshirts and trousers, but each team has adistinct colour for their clothing and gear.At night, under lights, it is an attractivespectacle. The names of players are nowprinted on the back of their shirts makingit easier for spectators to recognise theirfavourite players. This concept is one thathas long been used in the more popularsports such as football and basketball.

Day-night games are fast becoming thenorm as cricket organisers have recognisedthe need to have a game that starts in theafternoon and finishes in the night. This gamewill appeal to a broader cross section ofspectators who work and cannot sacrifice anentire day of work to watch a cricket game.This makes the game more attractive to amass audience which increases revenuesthrough gate receipts.

Multiple teams, one tournament

Without ODIs there could be no World Cupin the way it exists today. It would be dif-ficult for cricket organisers to bring togetherthe test playing nations in one tournamentfor a specified period of time playing thetraditional five day game. The ODIs have

made it possible to have one premier tourna-ment to decide who are world champions.

Can ODIs replace the traditionalgame?

It is interesting to speculate whether the oneday game will become so popular that itdominates and eventually replaces the tra-ditional game. Cricket purists, of which I amone, will unequivocally say no. We maintainthat the traditional game is the `real thing'and that ODIs do not truly reflect the qualityof players and teams and that luck and`performance on the day' heavily influencefinal results. The five day game will alwaysbe seen by some as that which brings outthe true character in the players and the formof the game that remains the preserve of`gentlemen'.

On the other hand, given its mass appealand financial worth, the push and pull factorsdescribed earlier may propel it into domi-nance. Its status, typified by the success ofthe recently concluded World Cup maysupersede that of the traditional game.

Glossary

Over ± six consecutive balls bowled by each bowlerat each end of the wicket.

Wide ± a delivery adjudged by the umpire to beoutside the batsman's hitting range for which apenalty run is awarded to the batting team.

No-ball ± a delivery which bounces above theshoulder height of the batsman for which apenalty run is awarded to the batting team.

Boundary ± a ball struck by a batsman whichreaches the perimeter of the field and for whichfour runs is awarded to the batting team.

Fielding circle ± a circle approximately thirty yardsin radius from either side of the pitch. Only twofielders are allowed outside this circle during thefirst fifteen overs of each innings.

References

1. Manley, M. and Melhado, O.K. (1996). `WestIndies cricket: the way forward', The SundayObserver, February 25.

2. Rickards, T. (1985). `Sporting innovations',Creativity & Innovation Network, April±June.

Julian Robinson is an MBA graduate fromManchester Business School, and is aconsultant with IBM.

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