ODI cricket fights for relevance outside the Cricket World Cup
The 50-over format manages to catch the shine every four years, but this is not good enough considering the meteoric rise of T20s and the traditional support for Test cricket. By
Australia’s incredible six-wicket win over India on 21 November ended off a spectacular month of World Cup cricket. The on-field displays were thrilling and spectators streamed into stadiums to view the action, albeit slowly at first.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the 2023 edition of the men’s tournament saw record attendance figures, with a reported 1,250,307 fans passing through the turnstiles at the 10 venues across India.
The first 18 matches of the tournament saw 364.2 million viewers tune in, which was a 43% growth compared with the 2019 tournament in England.
There is evidently an appetite for one-day international (ODI) cricket, yet the format has dwindled significantly – in terms of number of matches played and popularity – outside the showpiece quadrennial event.
“It’s hard to say. Maybe because we won, but I did fall in love with ODIS again this World Cup,” Australian fast bowler and captain Pat Cummins said after the final.
“I think the scenario where every game really matters does make it a bit different to just a bilateral [ODI series]. The World Cup has such rich history, I’m sure it’s going to be around for a long time,” he said.
T2o growth
T20 cricket has enjoyed meteoric growth in recent years and allowed the game to expand to various nontraditional cricketing areas around the globe. Test cricket has its own place and a historical legacy dating back to the first international matches in the 19th century. ODI cricket, meanwhile, is struggling to find its place wedged between the two extremes of the sport.
“I think T20 cricket has provided growth not only to audiences, but also to cricketing nations around the world,” former Proteas captain Graeme Smith said recently.
“Cricket is the No 2 sport from an eyeballs [audience] perspective in the world. You want to see cricket growing into new regions. T20 cricket offers that opportunity. You think about the T20 World Cup happening in the US and the Caribbean next year.
“I still believe Test cricket has a place and will be strong. It’s never going to be a 20-nation format. It’s going to be maybe six or seven nations in the world competing against each other.
“But T20 cricket offers so much growth from an entertainment perspective and for new audiences coming to the game.”
The various franchise T20 competitions have also had an impact on the international calendar. March to June is occupied by the Indian Premier League in the ICC men’s programme until 2027, and no international cricket will take place then. This illustrates the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s power as well as the trajectory of T20 cricket as the future leading format of the game.
Build-up to 2027
South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will co-host the Cricket World Cup in 2027.
Cricket South Africa is forced to turn a blind eye to the diminishing interest in the format in between the tournaments, and hopes that, like this edition in India, interest will peak again at the 2027 World Cup.
“Outside World Cup events I think [ODI cricket] is going to find a challenging space,” Smith said. “For us, with the 2027 World Cup around the corner, the build-up to the World Cup is important.
“All formats find their space. Time in the calendar is getting more and more challenging for these things. But with the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, we’re hoping that the build-up to the tournament will be strong because we haven’t hosted a [men’s] world event in a long time and that’s something to look forward to.”
In the build-up to the 2023 World Cup, a Cricket World Cup Super League – serving as a qualifying log to the main event – was used to give meaning to bilateral ODI series, but that has now been scrapped.
The lack of commercial viability in ODI cricket and time in the international calendar means that 50-over cricket’s slow death will be extended until its partial resuscitation in 2027 again.