adminMOEEN Ali has become the latest high-profile cricketer to bemoan an unsustainable schedule and predict the end is nigh for one-day internationals.
Over the last month, Moeen’s teammates, such as Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Ben Stokes have urged cricket’s governing bodies to reassess the schedule during a period in which England played 12 white-ball matches against India and South Africa in 25 days.
Stokes, who ended up retiring from ODIs during this period in a bid to prolong his future in Tests (as captain) and Twenty20s ahead of the World Cup this winter, used his media engagements around his farewell to call for change.
“We are not cars,” he said. “You can’t just fill us up and we’ll go out there and be ready to be fuelled up again.”
Interim ECB chief executive Clare Connor addressed Stokes’s comments earlier this week when speaking to the BBC, confirming the governing body have listened to his and other players’ concerns.
“It’s something that we have got to grapple with – that’s us with players, other boards, the International Cricket Council and the Professional Cricketers’ Association.”
It is a problem that is only going to be exacerbated by the increase in franchise competitions in the calendar. Along with the Hundred, which kicked off its second season on Wednesday, new T20 offerings in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa have sprouted by to step on one another’s toes and those of the international game.
Speaking ahead of the launch of KP Snacks’ summer cricket roadshow at The Black Prince Trust in Oval, ahead of his first game of this summer’s Hundred, Moeen, captain of Birmingham Phoenix, lamented a international and domestic programme that needed to be unravelled.
“It’s all over the place at the minute,” he said. “You’re trying to get a couple of franchise gigs which are decent, but you’re going to miss a couple of Test matches or the ODIs – that’s the horrible bit, I think, because you want to play for England as much as you can. You don’t want to be missing… I used to hate resting when I was a bit younger.
“At the moment it’s not sustainable in my opinion. Something has to be done because I fear losing the 50-over format in a couple of years because it’s almost like the long, boring one, if that makes sense. It’s almost like you’ve got T20s, 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.
“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 there’s always cricket being played, but it should never come in the way of international cricket in my opinion.” – ESPNcricinfo.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter