New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) Legendary Ricky Ponting is worried that the One day cricket could slowly lose its place in an increasingly choc-a-bloc calendar, with T20 Internationals and franchise leagues continuing their expansion across the globe.
Ponting fears ODI cricket will be played “less and less” in the coming years as more T20 leagues emerge, even though he remains convinced that Test cricket will continue to thrive as long as major cricketing nations remain invested in it.
“As the months go by and the years go by and more and more T20 cricket is being played and more franchises and franchise tournaments are starting around the world, it’s more and more likely that 50-over cricket is probably going to be played less. It’s inevitable, which I’m not a huge fan of, to be honest,” Ponting told PTI in an exclusive interaction.
The former Australia captain was speaking during an interaction facilitated by the World Championship of Legends, where he will be a co-owner of the Australia Champions franchise.
Ponting, who scored 13,704 runs in ODIs, feels ‘Big Four’ including South Africa, India, Australia and England will keep Test cricket in a healthy state.
“I love playing that format of the game, but something’s got to give somewhere. Test cricket is still going to remain strong as long as India, Australia, England and probably South Africa want Test cricket to remain strong. It will. So something’s got to give. And the obvious one is 50-over cricket,” he said.
Asked about the proliferation of T20 leagues and whether there could eventually be too much cricket for players, Ponting acknowledged that the calendar will inevitably have to make room for the growing number of franchise competitions.
“The players are the ones that are benefiting most from these tournaments all over the world at the moment. A tournament like WCL also gives a lot of players at the back-end of their careers to earn a living.
“It’s this tournament, though, in particular, which is obviously what we’re here to talk about, it’s great for the guys that are either still playing like Davey (David Warner), still playing at the highest level, but sort of coming towards the back end of their careers to have something like the Legends, that they can go back and play at the end.” Warner, Ponting’s former Australia teammate, believes cricket could eventually move towards a model similar to club football, although he sees several obstacles along the way.
“I always thought that in time it would probably be like that EPL sort of model. But the hard thing with cricket is when you’ve got so many different franchise competitions, it’s very difficult.
“The other thing as well is the amount of local players versus overseas players. The rules will have to completely change. EPL I think you can play as many as you want,” Warner reasoned.
“That goes with all the other leagues. So it’s completely determined by the place that you’re playing in. Whether it’s in India, you’re playing in PSL, you’re playing in Australia,” he added.
Warner also felt the expanding T20 calendar was creating both challenges and opportunities for players, particularly those from Associate nations. Challenge however is balancing league and international cricket.
“There are so many T20 leagues. Adjusting the calendar for the players. The calendar is what it is. If the players want to play in every single tournament, they’re not going to get a rest. It’s a great opportunity for other players, associate countries to play in it.” Australia Champions co-owner Puneet Singh said the franchise was entering a new phase with the tournament moving to the UAE and the addition of a seventh team.
“The good thing is that there’s a seventh team which is added this year. And the tournament is shifting to UAE.
“And Australia specifically, of course, there are a lot of changes. And I would say that probably one of the best thing ever which can happen to Australia Champions has happened today with Ricky Ponting coming on board as a co-owner and David Warner as a captain.” PTI KHS KHS BS
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