The origins of pyjama cricket are not as absurd as it sounds. Rather, it was one of the pedestals in the evolution of cricket. In 1971, Australia and England played a compensatory 40-over per side one-day match due to the cancellation of a scheduled test match. As the years rolled by, the latter half of the 1970s saw matches where an innings would last 55 overs. One Day International cricket gradually established itself as a rival format to test cricket. The first two World Cups played in this format featured 60-overs per side matches. It was later standardized to the 50-overs game that we know today. Each side bats for 50-overs and the team scoring more runs wins.
Since the result of a One Day International match could be witnessed within eight hours, its popularity rose against the five-day test matches. Media tycoon Kerry Packer decided to take this as an opportunity to multiply cricket’s commercial value. He established the World Series Cricket, signing the world’s most popular cricketers. Though the cricketers who signed with Packer earned handsomely, it created many rifts and tussles with the International Cricket Council, Test and County Cricket Club, and the Australian Cricket Board. But these clashes were what triggered within Packer to develop several innovations that was the blueprint of the One Day International format we see today. White color was replaced with the red ball, colored clothing was introduced, dark sight screens and drop-in pitches were some on-field innovations, and batters got protective equipment. When the World Series Cricket got media rights, it became an instant hit.
At the turn of the 20th century, cricket viewership sky-rocketed as a result of better broadcast streams and flamboyant colors of the limited overs format. The ones who opposed World Series Cricket mockingly called it pyjama cricket. However, derogation soon backfired when Channel 9 secured a 10-year deal with Packer, after which One Day International cricket exponentially grew in stature.
