‘Boring’ one-day cricket is dying out and I fear for future of Tests

England’s Moeen says T20 could fatally wound game

MOEEN ALI has warned that one-day international cricket could die ‘in a couple of years’ if nothing is done to ease the sport’s imbalanced fixture list.

In a scathing indictment of the game’s governance, Moeen suggested others would follow Ben Stokes’s recent decision to quit the 50-over format — because the current model is unsustainable.

And with new T20 franchise competitions popping up with increasing frequency, he even painted a bleak picture for the future of Test cricket, suggesting talented young players may turn their backs on a format that has been at the heart of the international game since 1877.

Ali, who retired from Test cricket last year citing exhaustion before reversing his decision in June, said: ‘International cricket in all three formats is by far the best cricket to play. But I do worry there are so many tournaments out there, that players are retiring more now — and you’ll see more retiring soon — because of overlapping schedules.

‘I feel like there’s no balance. It’s all over the place at the minute.

Something has to be done, because I fear losing the 50-over format in a couple of years.

‘It’s almost like the long boring one. You’ve got T20s and you’ve got the Test matches, which are great, and then the 50 overs is just in the middle — there’s no importance given to it at the moment. I feel like there’s too much going on. It’s great in a way, because there’s always cricket being played, but it should never get in the way of international cricket.’

Ironically, Moeen was speaking at the launch of KP Snacks’ summer cricket roadshow — an initiative tied to the Hundred, in which he is captain of Birmingham Phoenix.

And while, for many, the Hundred is just one symptom of a wider malaise, grabbing prime-time weeks in high summer and pushing England’s Test series against South Africa deep into September, Moeen believes the players are being asked to make unfair choices.

‘If you’re a young player, there’s so much money to be made away from international cricket. So you’re almost like, “I’m not too bothered”, because of the money. But I think you lose that thing for Test cricket, which is the absolute pinnacle.

‘There’s so many good players out there who may not be worried that they need to play Test cricket, whereas about 10 or 15 years ago it was all about playing Test cricket.’

But Moeen’s greatest fear is for the format in which England are world champions, following their thrilling super-over win against New Zealand at Lord’s three years ago.

With the IPL expanding, and its owners buying up teams in T20 leagues outside India, the whiteball balance of power has shifted from 50-over cricket to its consumer-friendly 20-over cousin.

Meanwhile, the establishment of domestic tournaments such as the Hundred or, more recently, the 6ixty in the Caribbean, reflects nervousness among national boards at the diminishing broadcast value of bilateral international cricket. Moeen is not optimistic about the future of a format that began at Melbourne in 1970-71, when the administrators held a limited-overs match on the final day of a rainruined Ashes Test.

‘Having won it in 2019, it’s a difficult one,’ he says, ‘but I genuinely feel in two or three years’ time, nobody’s going to want to play.

‘It’s a bit like our domestic stuff here at the moment: there’s the Hundred, while the 50-over [Royal London Cup] is going on and there’s not that much interest in it compared to the Championship, the Blast and the Hundred.’

Part of the problem, believes Moeen who was in England’s World Cup-winning squad and has won 121 one-day caps, is that 50-over cricket has become too formulaic.

‘There’s that period where it’s a little bit boring,’ he said. ‘As a spinner, it becomes negative, where you are bowling 10 overs trying to go at five or six an over. I think the rules have to change — maybe go back to one ball to try and get a bit of reverse swing. It has to be more exciting. When the guys at No 3 or 4 get in, they get a run-a-ball hundred — they can block four or five balls and hit a boundary in that over. It’s hard to build up pressure in 50-over cricket.’

England defend their one-day World Cup title in India in late 2023, though by then the game may have other priorities.

● KP Snacks, official team partner of the Hundred, are touring the country to offer more opportunities to play cricket as part of their ‘Everyone In’ campaign.

Visit everyonein.co.uk/about