Cricket Australia has agreed to the BCCI’s proposal to change October’s seven match one-day series between the teams in India to a two Test and three ODI setup.
Firstly, this is a good move in the preparation of the side for the Ashes next summer. Two Tests against the number one ranked side in Test cricket will provide the challenge that all the players need to steel them for an important Ashes series.
Secondly, the deleting of four one dayers in favour of two Tests is fantastic for the game in general.
On Tuesday we saw the 3000th ODI played in Southampton. A nice side note is that it was Ricky Ponting’s 347th ODI, meaning that he has played in over 10 per cent of the ODIs in the history of the format.
This move to play less ODIs is what the game needs, especially if the number of International Twenty20s is going to increase. Little wonder, however, that India’s move to play more Test cricket has come since they have grasped the number spot on the Test rankings.
As well as changing the series with the Aussies, the BCCI has also announced that November’s tour by the New Zealanders will be three Tests and five ODIs.
The BCCI has, for so long, been the provider of long, tedious one day series, and the step away from this is a positive for the game but clearly shows the power the BCCI has in setting the agenda.
Hopefully other nations will take on this lead and positives for cricket can come out of it.
Why the Australians and Englishmen are playing another five ODIs after playing seven last summer is beyond me, except for the fact that Bangladesh and Pakistan are touring, and seeing the Australians are there to play Pakistan, the ECB clearly see some potential for revenue to be raised.
The less of these long-winded one-day series the better and hopefully India can use their clout to change the cricketing agenda for the good of the game.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was looking comfortable at 67 off 40, until this moment when he hit the ball into his own stumps!
The Aussie made his 50 off 37 balls, for his fourth half-century of the season as his Sunrisers Hyderabad went on to beat Rajasthan…
Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. This quote is often attributed to Albert Einstein, but nobody knows if he…
This series’ twelfth and final team has a distinct West Indian flavour at the top of the order, and a domineering captain.
Mitch Marsh has been appointed as Australia's men's Twenty20 captain, set to lead a squad to the World Cup that does not include Steve…
Australia are set to turn their back on rising star Jake Fraser-McGurk’s whirlwind IPL form and drop Steve Smith in their T20 World Cup…
