CBSE Class 9 Answered

Till the 1930s, cricket was a sport dominated by the white race. However, with the advent of the 20th century, the West Indians and the Asians began to make inroads. In colonial India, cricket teams were organised on racial and communal lines. After independence,  the Ranji trophy was organised as a regional competition. As the process of declonisation took pace, the national teams of India, Pakistan, and later Sri Lanka and Bangladesh began to play test cricket. The Imperial Cricket Conference, the governing body of world cricket, was later renamed as the International Cricket Conference and it slowly came to be dominated by India and the other Asian nations. So much so that, the ICC even boycotted South Africa for its racial seggregation policies. The most significant change in the format of cricket however was brought about by an Australian named Kerry Packer. He was an Australian television tycoon who saw the moneymaking potential of cricket as a televised sport. He signed up fifty-one of the world’s leading cricketers against the wishes of the national cricket boards. For about two years, he staged unofficial Tests and One-Day internationals under the name of World Series Cricket. During this time, he brought about some changes, which transformed the nature of the game. He introduced coloured dress, protective helmets, field restrictions, cricket under lights and all of this became standard part of the game. His contribution helped to build up the image of cricket as a televised sport and marketable game that would generate revenue. Lastly, his ideas of continuous television coverage of the game not only made cricketers celebrities but also expanded the audience viewership. As the 20th century further drew on, television coverage, commercial advertisement and the immense popularity of one day cricket world cups has made the game of cricket very cash rich.