Glenn McGrath has said a near-deserted MCG for England’s recent ODI series should ring alarm bells for the survival of the 50-over format.
Little more than 4,000 fans trickled into the vast MCG for the last of three 50-over matches between the old rivals, leaving huge swathes of the venue completely empty.
Just nine days earlier, more than 80,000 attended England’s T20 World Cup win over Pakistan at the same stadium, leaving players, fans and pundits united in their criticism of the scheduling.
McGrath, a three-time World Cup winner in ODI cricket, believes the problem runs deeper than one poorly planned series.
But he says serious thought has to be applied to avoid the format being squeezed out of the calendar permanently.
“It was so disappointing to see crowds like that, ODIs are really under the pump at the moment,” he said from his Queensland home.
“Melbourne is classed as the sporting capital of Australia, if not the world, they absolutely love their sport. So for them to turn out in the numbers they did speaks volumes about where we’re at.
“The powers that be really have to watch that they don’t put games on just for the sake of it, games that don’t count for anything.
“The international schedule is tough enough. I think they have to respect every series and every game, it has to mean something.
“We’ve got to protect the game. T20 cricket is always growing, it’s fast, quick and exciting and Test cricket really is the ultimate. I think those two formats will stand the test of time.
“I do hope ODI cricket carries on – I’ve got a lot of great memories of it and I would still put the ODI World Cup as more important than the T20.
“But the format is under the pump and we need to look at how we keep people coming to these games.”
Cam
Roar Rookie
It's a bit like when they started playing Big Bash, there was 31 matches played and everyone thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. CA, always keen to milk a cash-cow to death, has evolved the BBL to double that number (to justify their broadcast contract) and given the public cricket-fatigue. I worry for the BBL of the back of the T20 WC, the pointless 50 Over series and what will be almost a certain one-side test series against the WI.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
This series didn't. Buttler made mention of it after the last game.
josh
Roar Rookie
Don't all ODI games count towards ODI World Cup qualification now?
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
This is such a silly line of argument. Cricketers need to play games to stay tuned. It's what they do. The TV audience was more than satisfactory. The sport is played on the ground, not in the crowd. I'd imagine soccer crowds in Qatar will be down after the world cup too (although that might be because half the population is in prison...or executed).