Mark Nicholas Strongly Believes 'ODIs Should Be Played Only At World Cups'

The incoming president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Mark Nicholas has called for ODIs to be played exclusively at World Cup. Last week, he replaced Stephen Fry as the president of cricket’s oldest and most prestigious members’ club.

There have been calls from several quarters to take big calls in order to preserve the 50-over format. The meteoric rise of T20 cricket and franchise tournaments has taken a big toll on ODI cricket. Earlier this year, former India allrounder and head coach Ravi Shastri had suggested that ODIs should be reduced to 40-over per side while also expressing his concern over the future of the format.

Last year, India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had also expressed his concerns over the future of the format after South Africa withdrew from their ODI series in Australia due to it clashing with their new T20 franchise league in January 2023. And now Mark Nicholas has given a glimpse into how things could unfold for ODI cricket in the coming days.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

Mark Nicholas on future of ODI cricket:

Sharing his views on ODI cricket, Mark Nicholas stated that his views echoed those of MCC’s World Cricket Committee. In July, the MCC Cricket Committee called for ODI cricket to be “significantly reduced” outside of World Cup years.

“We believe strongly that ODIs should be World Cups only,” Mark Nicholas told ESPNcricinfo. “We think it’s difficult bilaterally now to justify them. They’re not filling grounds in a lot of countries. And there is a power at the moment to T20 cricket that is almost supernatural.

“It’s more than just ticket sales. It’s the amount of people that want to own franchises, the amount of countries that want to run tournaments, it’s the amount of players that want to be in a market all around the world.

“In a free market, the most money wins. And that’s just the end-game. The players can see that bubbling away and they want to be a part of it. So, it is an extraordinary power that T20 has, and I think scheduling 50-over cricket alongside it just continues the story of the death knell of the ODI game,” he added.

As of now, the cricketing world is gearing up for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The highly-anticipated World Cup is scheduled to be played from October 5 to November 19 in India.