Since the retirement of English all-rounder Ben Stokes from ODIs, the questions have been raised about the 50-over format. Many players have expressed concern about the growing cricket calendar and many point to ODIs about how the format is losing relevance at the moment. English star Moeen Ali has spoken out, saying that ODIs now feel like a “long, boring format”. He also shared that it is currently unsustainable to play all three formats of the game.
“It’s all over the place right now. You’re trying to get a few franchise appearances that are decent, but you’re going to miss a few Test matches or the ODIs – that’s the terrible part I guess because you want so much possibly play for England. You don’t want to miss… I hated resting when I was a little younger,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Moeen as saying.
“Right now it’s not sustainable in my opinion. Something has to be done because I’m afraid of losing the 50-over format in a few years because it’s almost like the long, boring one, if that makes sense. It’s almost like you’ I have T20s, you have the Test matches which are great and then the 50 overs are right in the middle – no importance is given at the moment,” he added.
Continuing on the same topic, Moeen said: “So yeah, I think there’s too much – personally I feel like there’s too much going on. It’s great in a way, because cricket is always being played, But it would never be in the way of international cricket in my opinion.”
Moeen also said more players are likely to do what Stokes did and he also spoke about how players are likely to leave a format to care for their well-being.
promoted
“International cricket in all three formats is by far the best cricket to play. There is no doubt about it,” he said. “But I do worry that there are so many tournaments that players are retiring more now – and you will be retiring more soon – because of overlapping schedules,” Moeen said.
After the series against India, Stokes had announced that the first ODI against South Africa will be the last in the format. After that he also spoke about the cricket calendar and said that cricketers are not cars that can be filled with petrol.
Topics mentioned in this article