South Africa’s Rejection of ODI With Australia is a Turning Point in Cricket
Significant changes are coming in one of the most popular sports — gradually, new major T20 leagues are emerging worldwide, seriously threatening international cricket’s development. On the eve of the former England captain Michael Atherton said that South Africa’s rejection of the ODI with Australia is a turning point in cricket.
Recall that on July 13, the South African Cricket Board announced that the South African men’s national team will not hold an ODI series with Australia in January 2023.
Representatives of the Cricket Council of South Africa noted that this decision was made because the leadership of cricket in South Africa wants to ensure the “long-term sustainability of the new T20 league.”
Michael Atherton noted that the appearance of a new T20 league in South Africa would deal another blow to international cricket, which has already suffered so much after the creation of the IPL, the largest T20 league on the planet.
“I think right now the whole of cricket is at a tipping point. The appearance of the IPL was the beginning of the decline of international cricket, and now South Africa has once again confirmed that the national championships are gradually beginning to pull the blanket over themselves. South Africa refuses the series with Australia so that the best players of this country are available to participate in the new championship,” said Michael Atherton.
Tough times await the England team in the ODI format
International cricket is really starting to fade into the background. This is eloquently evidenced by the fact that South Africa, abandoning the ODI series against Australia, risks missing the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will be held in India next year.
It is noteworthy that it is the ODI format that suffers most from the appearance of new leagues in the T20 format. Recently, Eoin Morgan said that this game variation is becoming less and less widespread and in demand over time. Recall that Morgan only recently completed his international career, so Eoin knows exactly what he is talking about.
“ODI at the moment is slowly starting to “get out of the game”. There’s nothing wrong with test cricket — it’s a classic, and it’s not going anywhere. Everything is fine with the T20 format — new leagues that prefer this particular variation of the game are regularly created. It is obvious to me that these two formats are the main ones right now,” Morgan said.
A clear confirmation of Eoin’s words is the recent departure from the ODI format of Ben Stokes, one of the captains of the England national team.
Referring to the fact that his body can no longer withstand such a tight schedule, Ben Stokes decided to retire from the ODI.
Ex-England national team player Mark Butcher said yesterday that the England national team in the ODI format is facing challenging times as more English players focus on the test format and T20.
“We see what is happening now: an increasing number of English players are abandoning ODI in order to prove themselves in the other two formats better. There is enough personnel now, but it can become a huge problem in a few years,” Butcher said.
