In 1978, Tony Greig went to America for ten days. Later, he spoke of the need to quicken the game up. Something like 25 overs for each side. Maiden overs may be outlawed. McCormack and WSC have always been interested in taking cricket to the United States. At the start of the English summer of 1978, Tony Greig went to America for ten days to talk to representatives of the major television networks, and he met with an encouraging response.
A one-day game was arranged in New York for early September, and many of the WSC players are going to be taking part, although it is not being directly organized by Packer. At the time of writing, this has not been played, but it is being used as an opportunity to gauge the response of the American public. If it is satisfactory, WSC will, in some form, be visiting the United States in March or April 1979, soon after the West Indies. Tony Greig has since spoken of the need to quicken the game up for an American audience, even to the point of changing the rules.
The idea of a game that finishes in three to four hours is appealing, and would probably mean a contest over something like 25 over’s for each side. Maiden overs may be outlawed in the same way that a baseball player is out if he fails to make contact with any of his three strikes. If the game is to be a success on television in America, it might easily involve the wholesale rewriting of the rule book as it now stands.