Last rites for ODIs?
RESTING the best players from one-day cricket series jammed into a packed calendar is the only way to avoid burnout, but Australia’s 50over stars are adamant the format still deserves its place.
Alarm bells are ringing for one-day cricket, with Australia set to play just 15 home ODIs between July 2023 and June 2027 – less than four matches a season – under the Future Tours program.
But that schedule also includes a 50-over World Cup in India next year that is firmly on the minds of Australia’s players as they prepare for the three-match one-day series against Zimbabwe, which begins in Townsville on Sunday.
Superstar all-rounder Glenn Maxwell conceded the 50-over game was “harder on your body” than others and playing too much could shorten careers if players tried to compete in all three formats.
But Maxwell also said Australia’s rich history in ODI cricket, having won five World Cups, ensured he would always see it as important.
“Because I grew up watching one-day cricket, it was Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh or Gilly (Adam Gilchrist), and when I think of one-day cricket, I think of those guys,” Maxwell said this week.
“I know the younger generation probably think a bit differently, but I think it still has its place.”
Australian one-day keeper Alex Carey said he’d play for Australia “anywhere, in front of anyone”, so the series against Zimbabwe and then New Zealand in Townsville that will follow it excited him.
But beyond that he said the lure of a World Cup, in any format, was enough to get players on board and he agreed the 50-over game had its part to play in world cricket.
“I love the game, one-day cricket,” he said. “I understand with T20 and The Hundred coming in that there may be other interests for maybe some new cricket fans.
“But as a player, it’s still a format that this country has done so well in and there’s a lot of history.
“And with the World Cup coming up, we want to win. It sort of starts this Sunday, that next 12 months to the World Cup in India. It’s beginning. I am excited.”