"Too many formats in the game for them all to survive" - Michael Vaughan's bold prediction
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has made a bold prediction about the future of the ODI format, during a chat with India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Speaking on Ashwin's YouTube channel, Vaughan said that there are too many formats in the game, and not all of them are likely to survive in the long run. The former player said that Test cricket must survive, as it is widely accepted as the greatest form of the game.
"I’ll be honest; I think there are too many formats in the game for them all to survive. Test match cricket has to survive; it’s the heritage of our sport. I hope in 50 years’ time, we’re all still talking about Test match cricket like we do now," he said.
Vaughan added:
"I do think we have an issue with T20 cricket and 50-over cricket. I think it’s just how the administrators and you players come together and try and work out what is the best solution for a lot of the problems that the game has at the minute."
With the different formats making it difficult for fans to follow the sport, Vaughan suggested having different windows in the calendar for different formats.
"Let’s try to have windows in our calendar where you have one month where you play just Test cricket, then another month for T20 cricket, then for the IPL," he said.
He went on to say that the ODI format may end up being played in four-year intervals, at the World Cups.
"In among all that, it’s very difficult to continue with 50-over cricket as well. It might be that the only 50-over cricket that will be played will be every four years at the World Cup," he said.
Vaughan added that 50-over cricket is an extension of T20 cricket, elaborating:
"I know there will be die-hards who will ask how will you be good at 50-over cricket if you don’t play it? But 50-over cricket now is just an extension of T20 cricket. Players try to bat like T20 cricket for 50 overs. That’s why you see 350-400 scores regularly."
He also said that it is only natural that modern players are more inclined towards white-ball cricket, as it has a brighter future and more prospects. Vaughan opined that in England, more players are developing their technique for limited overs than the longest format, saying he would have done the same. He said:
"If I were a player coming through in this era, I’d be doing exactly what the modern player is doing, trying to be as good a white-ball player as I could be. If that helped me be a good Test player, then fantastic, I’d love to be both. But it’s like an University course. There are more opportunities and jobs studying white-ball cricket than studying red-ball cricket," Vaughan said.
The former player added:
"So I’ve studied four years of red-ball cricket for 11 places, or I can study white-ball cricket, and that leaves me with, phew, how many leagues are out there? There are so many leagues. The Hundred, Big Bash, the IPL, PSL, the CPL, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and T10 as well."
"So studying white-ball cricket university is what you should be doing, but what I hope is happening is that the university of white-ball says that come on, there’s also this course that can add some skills as well, and that’s red-ball cricket."
Global T20 leagues will help players from Associate nations grow quicker - Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan said that while playing against bigger countries will help Associate nations, their players getting experience in T20 leagues around the world will expedite their growth.
"All these associate countries, they started at the bottom, but their growth has been stronger over the last few years. And it’s just opportunities and giving them series at the right time. Give them the right amount of games for experience," he said.
The former player added:
"But I do feel that with all these leagues all around the world, they will get better quicker."