One-day and Twenty20 cricket: how the short formats arrived.

English counties, 1963

The ICC's history says slow play and low scoring had driven down county crowds in the 1950s, and that English counties began playing one-innings, limited-overs matches in 1963, with a national league following in 1969. The MCC describes county cricket in the early 1960s as widely seen to be stagnant and over-cautious. Its answer was a knockout competition modelled on football's FA Cup, with innings of 65 overs: the Gillette Cup.

The first Gillette Cup final, at Lord's, was won by Sussex, captained by Ted Dexter, by 14 runs against Worcestershire, the MCC records. ESPNcricinfo's scorecard dates it to 7 September 1963. A search summary of an ESPNcricinfo article dates the first match of the competition, between Lancashire and Leicestershire at Old Trafford, to 1 May 1963; we could not confirm that.

The first one-day international, 1971

The MCG's timeline dates the first official one-day international, Australia against England, to 5 January 1971, played after rain had washed out the third Test. The ICC and the MCC both describe it as a stand-in for that abandoned Test. The MCC says ODIs became a regular part of the English summer from 1972, with the Prudential Trophy played before each Test series.

Women played the first World Cup two years later, in 1973; that story is on women's cricket history.

The men's World Cup from 1975

The MCC says the first men's World Cup was first called an "International Competition", sponsored by Prudential, with eight teams (England, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and East Africa) in two groups of four, playing 60-over innings under Gillette Cup rules. When was it agreed? The MCC says the International Cricket Conference agreed in 1972; the ICC's own history says it was approved in 1973.

West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs in the final at Lord's on 21 June 1975. They made 291 in 60 overs, with their captain Clive Lloyd scoring 102; Gary Gilmour took 5 for 48, and five Australians were run out. The MCC says Lloyd faced 85 balls, while a Lord's news page, seen only as a search summary, says his century came from 82. Prince Philip, MCC President that year, presented the trophy, which is now in the MCC Museum.

Winners and finals are from the ICC's "story so far" (18 September 2023) and its 2023 final report; format changes from the ICC's 20th-century history; the 1992 final date from the MCG timeline. The ICC's history says 1987 was also the last men's World Cup played with a red ball and white clothing.

Twenty20, 2003

The ICC says Twenty20 was first played at professional level in 2003, after the idea was raised in English county cricket circles. The ICC names no inventor, and the secondary accounts disagree on who deserves the credit:

• Wikipedia says the ECB first floated a shorter format in 1998, and that the ECB marketing manager Stuart Robertson and colleagues put a 20-over game to the county chairmen in 2001, who voted 11 to 7 to adopt it. On this account Robertson was its champion in England.
• The same Wikipedia article credits the 20-over idea itself to the New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe.

Wikipedia says the first official Twenty20 matches were played between English counties in the Twenty20 Cup on 13 June 2003, that all 18 first-class counties took part until 19 July, and that Surrey won the final at Trent Bridge. We found no ECB page to confirm this. Several matches began that day, and accounts differ on which was first: Hampshire against Sussex at the Rose Bowl, or Sussex against Middlesex at Hove.

Twenty20 goes international

The first women's Twenty20 international, England against New Zealand at Hove in August 2004, came first; Sussex Cricket calls it the first T20 international by either women or men. The first men's T20 international was New Zealand against Australia at Eden Park, Auckland, on 17 February 2005. New Zealand Cricket records the venue, the year and that both teams wore 1980s-style retro kit; an ESPNcricinfo match report, seen as a search summary, gives the date and an Australian win by 44 runs, with Ricky Ponting unbeaten on 98.

The ICC Board, meeting in Kolkata, announced on 26 April 2018 that every T20 match between ICC members would have international status, from 1 July 2018 for women's teams and 1 January 2019 for men's. On 23 November 2018 the ICC renamed its World T20 the T20 World Cup, from the 2020 events.

The men's T20 World Cup

The ICC's brief history (29 January 2026) lists the winners: India in 2007 in South Africa, beating Pakistan, in a tournament where Chris Gayle's 117 was the first T20I century; Pakistan (2009, in England); England (2010, in the Caribbean); West Indies (2012, in Sri Lanka, beating the hosts); Sri Lanka (2014); West Indies (2016, final in Kolkata); Australia (2021, beating New Zealand); England (2022, beating Pakistan at the MCG on 13 November 2022, per the MCG timeline); and India (2024, beating South Africa). The ICC says the event was not held for five years before 2021 and grew from 16 to 20 teams in 2024. The tenth edition, in India and Sri Lanka in 2026, was won by India, who beat New Zealand by 96 runs in Ahmedabad, the BCCI announced; the ICC's tournament guide set the final for 8 March 2026. Every women's T20 World Cup winner is on women's cricket history.

Leagues

The first Indian Premier League match, Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders at Bengaluru on 18 April 2008, was won by Kolkata by 140 runs after Brendon McCullum's unbeaten 158, according to ESPNcricinfo's scorecard listing. The MCC records The Hundred's launch in 2021. Today's leagues are on the IPL and WPL, The Hundred and other leagues.