With a lot more international cricket on the horizon, players are under more pressure than ever. Now, with the recent advent of T20 leagues around the world, an average player has a lot more competition to play and it showed when players like Ben Stokes immediately retired permanently from ODI cricket.
If the recent ODI series between England and Australia is to be seen, not only the players, but even the fans have felt the pinch. The iconic MCG looked empty when Australia took on England in front of empty stands.
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When SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith was asked about the decline of ODI cricket, he hit it straight on the head. He started off on a humorous note on how India He is the one who is playing too much cricket before the issue is addressed.
“I think nobody plays more than India. India is one of the most attractive places to visit for any country in the world. It changed the game commercially for many other countries.
“So, you know, now you see the two teams churning out … India playing an ODI series in Sri Lanka and the Test team playing elsewhere.”
He made an interesting observation as to how a lot of ODI series and bilateral series ended after the Covid-induced break.
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“What happened is post Covid there was a need to make so many series and boxes were ticked for broadcast or commercial stuff. You know those three ODIs (England vs Australia) World The cup had no relevance or meaning. It had to be done but it didn’t have as much impact on world cricket as it should have.
“We need to provide context for everything we do of course in bilateral cricket.”
“It is like you come to a country, stay for four days, play three ODIs and go to New Zealand to play a Test series. The fans get lost in the moment,” said the former South African captain.
Earlier, Kane Williamson reiterated what Smith had said before the third T20 match against India.
“I think it was unfortunate to see, but it also shows the amount of cricket that is being organised. Because there is no doubt that ICC tournaments are popular and there is a lot of cricket going on. They (Australia) have a There was also the World Cup. So, there was a lot in their country too. So, we should make sure there is as much context as possible in the games, especially in bilateral series.”
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