One-day cricket

Limited overs matches, also known as one day cricket or instant cricket, were introduced in the English domestic season of 1963 in response to demands for a shorter and more dramatic form of cricket. One-day, single-innings, matches often took place before this, but the innovation was the limiting of each side's innings to an agreed number of overs (nowadays usually 50).

• The idea was taken up in the international arena in 1971, during England's tour of Australia, when a match was played on the scheduled fifth day of the rained-off third Test. The one-day game has since become a crowd-pleaser and TV-audience-generator across the globe, hastened in part by the success of the inaugural World Cup in 1975. The abbreviations ODI (One-Day International) or sometimes LOI (Limited Overs International) are used for international matches of this type.

• Innovations have included the introduction of coloured clothing, distinct tournaments, and "day-night" matches (where play extends into the night under floodlights); together with frequent nail-biting finishes and the impossibility of either side opting to play for a draw, these have seen ODI cricket gain many supporters.