Moments that changed cricket forever: When colour was added to the game

However, despite the obvious perks, it wasn’t until the mid 90s that the idea really caught on. The day-night one-dayers now became a means to generate revenues and take the game to uncharted territories.

Though certain countries like England and West Indies resisted the change at first, 50-over day-night tri-nation one-day tournaments in non cricket-playing nations like the Middle East countries became a regular feature on the cricket calendar.

Day/Night cricket brought the working crowd to the stadiums

The fact that there was a boom in television viewing during this period also helped as coloured cricket stars in lit up stadiums became a good advertising tool for the broadcasters. The afternoon starts to the games augured well for the working class and packed stadiums became a norm.

The white ball too brought its own set of virtues and complications, providing bowlers around the world with a new challenge.

By the time the generation-Y version of the game – Twenty20 cricket – arrived on the scene, coloured kits and the white ball had become mandatory in limited over matches, and the slam-bang version of the game, with its thrills and sparks, fitted right in.

The next plausible step now would be to try floodlights in Test cricket. But implementing it won’t be as straightforward as the purists will object to any tinkering with the traditional format of the game which, by and large, is still played in its pristine form.

In fact, recently the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that they wanted to experiment with floodlights and pink ball when they ‘host’ Sri Lanka in the upcoming Test series in the UAE, only for the demand to be turned down by their Sri Lankan counterparts.

While maintaining tradition is fine, it should also be noted that of late, crowds at Test venues have been dwindling and the interest of the general public in Test cricket has been on the wane.

One of the biggest challenges for the ICC at the moment is to keep the longest format of the game commercially viable, and embracing the changes that come with time might be the way forward.

After all, change is the only constant.

Read more about such events which altered the way cricket was played over the years - The moments that changed cricket forever.