Moeen Ali has turned into the most recent high-profile cricketer to lament an impractical timetable and anticipate the end is near for one-day internationals while Moeen’s colleagues, for example, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, and Ben Stokes have encouraged cricket’s overseeing bodies to reevaluate the timetable during a period.
Moeen Ali has turned into the most recent high-profile cricketer to lament an impractical timetable and anticipate the end is near for one-day internationals.
Throughout the past month, Moeen’s colleagues, for example, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, and Ben Stokes have encouraged cricket’s overseeing bodies to reevaluate the timetable during a period where England played 12 white-ball matches against India and South Africa in 25 days.
Stokes, who ended up retiring from ODIs during this period in a bid to prolong his future in Tests (as captain) and Twenty20s ahead of the World Cup this winter, used his media engagements around his farewell to call for change.
“We are not cars,”
he said.
“You can’t just fill us up and we’ll go out there and be ready to be fuelled up again.”
Interim ECB chief executive Clare Connor addressed Stokes’s comments earlier this week when speaking to the BBC, confirming the governing body has listened to his and other players’ concerns.
“It’s something that we have got to grapple with – that’s us with players, other boards, the International Cricket Council, and the Professional Cricketers’ Association.”
Talking ahead of the launch of KP Snacks’ summer cricket roadshow at The Black Prince Trust in Oval, in front of his most memorable round of this summer’s Hundred, Moeen, skipper of Birmingham Phoenix, deplored an international and domestic program that should have been unwound.
“It’s all over the place at the minute,”
he said.
“You’re trying to get a couple of decent franchise gigs, but you’re going to miss a couple of Test matches or the ODIs – that’s the horrible bit, I think because you want to play for England as much as you can. You don’t want to be missing… I used to hate resting when I was a bit younger.
“At the moment it’s not sustainable in my opinion. Something has to be done because I fear losing the 50-over format in a couple of years after all it’s almost like the long, boring one if that makes sense. It’s almost like you’ve got T20s, you’ve got the Test matches which are great and then the 50 overs are just in the middle – there’s no importance given to it at the moment.
“So yeah, I think there’s too much – I feel like there’s too much going on. It’s great in a way because there’s always cricket being played, but it should never come in the way of international cricket in my opinion.”
Moeen also warned players presently prefer to do as Stokes has done and ditch a configuration of the game for their desires and prosperity. The off-spinning allrounder did comparable toward the end of the 2021 summer when he controlled himself out of Test choice, just to concede he was available to add to his 64 caps in June.
“International cricket in all three formats is by far the best cricket to play. There’s no doubt about that,”
he said.
“But I do worry there are so many tournaments out there that players are retiring more now – and you’ll see more retiring soon – because of overlapping schedules.
He has no plans at present to manage any of his ongoing commitments. While a Test recall for the visit through Pakistan at the end of the year is likely, it is sufficiently segregated to not encroach on different responsibilities over the winter. However, at 35, he feels for those in the beginning phases of their career as they choose which way to require some investment when cricket’s environment is apparently in a steady condition of motion.
“From my point of view, because I’m in the back end of my 30s, it’s easier for me to go right like I did, where you don’t play Test matches, you now concentrate on franchise cricket. Whereas if you’re a young player coming through there’s so much to be made money-wise away from international cricket as well.
“So you’re almost like I’m not too bothered because in terms of money, you lose that hunger and I guess I think you lose that thirst for Test cricket, which is the absolute pinnacle.
“If I don’t play then I’ve got plenty out there. And that’s the danger really because there are so many Test matches, there’s so much potential, especially during the way England is playing at the moment. And I know it’s very early but there are so many good players out there that could easily just turn their backs a little bit on Test cricket – not turn their backs, but not be worried that they need to play Test cricket, whereas I reckon about 10 or 15 years ago, it was all about playing Test cricket.”