LONDON: If nothing is done to fix the game’s busy schedule, Moeen Ali, an all-rounder for England, has issued a warning that additional players may follow teammate Ben Stokes in quitting One-Day Internationals and that the format may become utterly outdated.
Stokes, the Test captain of England, announced his stunning 50-over cricket retirement at the age of 31 last month, citing the emergence of franchise-based Twenty20 leagues as the reason for a schedule that was “unsustainable.”That burden has increased as a result of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) insistence on holding one major international competition each year.
Moeen, who is leading Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, stated on the sidelines of the race, “In my perspective, it’s not sustainable right now. I worry that the 50-over format will be abandoned in a few years because it is so similar to the lengthy, dull one. There is currently no emphasis placed on the 50 overs, which are only in the middle.
