Nasser Hussain urges ICC and ECB to keep an eye over white-ball contracts

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has urged the world cricket body International Cricket Council (ICC) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to primarily focus on youngsters. It came after youngsters have preferred white-ball cricket over Test fold.

Hussain comments come after Adil Rashid and Alex Hales signed new contracts with Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire respectively.

Both the players have decided to play only white-ball cricket be it domestic or international set-up

With more and more Twenty20 leagues coming up all over the world, more players may adopt the idea of just playing limited-over format.

Many former cricketers fear that the longest format of the game is in danger. They have urged the cricket governing bodies to look after the players.

Young players are losing interest to play conventional format in the contemporary cricket.

Nasser Hussain admits that players signing white-ball contracts is a worrying sign. He has urged the ICC to keep an eye on first-class and Test cricket.

Hussain told Sky Sports, “It reflects the changing face of international cricket at the moment. All of these franchises and domestic teams we have, they’re just making business decisions. They’re doing the maths – what can I get in a year and they’ve said by giving up red-ball cricket in England they can probably make more money travelling the world playing white-ball cricket.”

 

“It’s a worry for the game, definitely, especially now it seems to be getting younger and younger. A few years ago, the likes of (Brendon) McCullum and (Kevin) Pietersen were retiring into an IPL sunset and taking the cash and you couldn’t blame them – it was like a little gold pot at the end of their career,” Hussain maintains.

 

“Then it got a little bit younger and there were worries about AB de Villiers and some superstars of the game, just drifting away. But now it’s getting even younger – Rashid is 30, Hales is 29. The other option would have been to stay, try to fight and get your Test match place back. First-class cricket – in particular in England – should be worried and concerned,” Hussain asserts.

 

Hussain continues, “Everyone’s talking about T20 cricket, simply because given the option of do you want to work half the time, get paid double the money, go round the world playing cricket, see your family quite a bit more and it seems to be more fun. This is what youngsters and the future looks like I’m afraid and I urge the ICC and ECB to keep an eye on first-class cricket, to keep an eye more importantly on Test match cricket.”

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