sport news Moeen Ali fears ODI cricket could die in just 'a couple of years' due to ... trends now
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, Ali 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.
Moeen Ali believes more players will step away from Test cricket in favour of the new formats
‘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, if that makes sense. 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.
‘So yeah, 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.’
Ironically, Ali 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 primetime weeks in high summer and pushing England’s Test series against South Africa deep into September, Ali believes the players are being asked to make unfair choices by the game’s administrators.
Ben Stokes recently became the latest high-profile player to quit playing over-50 games
‘If you’re a young player, there’s so much to be made money-wise away from international cricket. So you’re almost like, “I’m not too bothered”, because of the money. But you lose
