Melbourne, June 06: Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) Chief Executive Tim May has called for the current schedule of one-day matches to be scrapped and replaced by a league. The ACA model would mean one nation was crowned the champion team each year. It would feature 11 teams, playing each other three times, and a relegation system.
May, a former Australia bowler, launched the model on Thursday in a bid to increase revenue, attendances, development opportunities for emerging cricket nations and lessen any temptation for corruption. "The ACA agrees with (outgoing International Cricket Council President Malcolm Gray) that the game is being damaged by an unprecedented number of one-sided matches across the globe," May said in a statement.
"Cricket authorities have identified that ... cricket is potentially damaged by the over-scheduling of uneven matches, yet they continue to put more of it out there for us to consume," he lamented. Every set of three matches against another country would comprise a home, away and neutral venue game.
"Each country would host 15 games for the year, i.e., 10 home games and five neutral games," May said. "One-day cricket as we know it would be totally scrapped i.e,. this 30-round competition would replace all other ODI cricket," he added. Australia successfully defended their World Cup in South Africa in March and won a world record of 21 consecutive limited-overs internationals before losing to West Indies in Trinidad last month.
Australia's World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting warned officials on Thursday of player burnout because of heavy schedules.
Bureau Report