By the early 1960s English county cricket was in serious financial trouble. Three-day Championship matches were drawing only a few hundred spectators on weekday afternoons; the counties had run permanent deficits for most of the decade. The MCC's Altham subcommittee had recommended a one-day knockout in 1961, modelled loosely on football's FA Cup. Gillette, the razor manufacturer, paid £6,500 to attach its name. The competition began in May 1963 with sixteen first-class counties and a 65-overs-per-side format.
The early rounds drew strong crowds at every venue. Sussex, captained by Ted Dexter, advanced through Kent, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire to reach the final. Worcestershire, the reigning County Champions, were the favourites. The final was played at Lord's on 7 September 1963 in front of a near-capacity crowd that had paid through the gate for what was advertised in the programme as a new kind of cricket.
Sussex batted first and made 168 in 60.2 overs. Jim Parks, top-scoring with 57, was the only batsman to reach fifty. Worcestershire, set 169, slid to 154 all out. Dexter's tactical innovation — packing the off-side field whenever the seamers operated — was widely credited as the prototype for limited-overs field-setting. Sussex won by 14 runs. Dexter was named Man of the Match.
The trophy was a silver-gilt cup commissioned by Gillette and presented at the close. The competition continued under Gillette's sponsorship until 1980, then under NatWest from 1981. By the late 1960s the Gillette Cup had become the most heavily attended county fixture of the season; clubs that had been losing money on Championship cricket regularly drew 15,000-strong crowds for cup ties.