Former Australia captain Aaron Finch has argued that One Day Internationals (ODIs) should be reduced to 40 overs since the crowd is not invested in sitting for a 50-over game anymore. Having represented Australia in white-ball cricket for nearly a decade, Finch says the duration of an ODI feels tiring and that people would be interested in watching a shorter version of One-Dayers. 

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Finch added though the general narrative is that T20 cricket has eaten up ODI cricket’s space, the bottom line is that the spectators make the format watchable.

“I think it (ODIs) goes to 40 overs; I would love to see that. In England, they used to have the pro-40, and that was a huge competition. I think the game has gone too long, in my opinion. The speed at which the teams bowl their 50 overs is so slow; it’s down around 11 or 12 overs/hour, and that is not acceptable. People will argue that maybe it is a glorified T20 game, but it is about the crowds,” Finch told ESPNcricinfo.

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Considering only a handful of teams are succeeding in ODIs, including Australia, England and India being the Big Three, Finch brought West Indies into the conversation, saying they look out of sorts while competing in the 50-over cricket. 

“I am not quite sold on that for every series. I think when you have got the big dogs all playing against each other, I still think the 50-over game’s electric and the ebbs and flows are wonderful, but when they are so one-sided, when you have got the West Indies…who are trying to fight their way back into the World Cup, they are so off the track, I think 40 overs might suit that type of series, it might bring them closer together,” Finch concluded.

Debate over future of ODI cricket continues

For the longest time, probably after the inception of T20 cricket in the early 2000s, the future of ODIs came under a dark cloud. 

Though the emergence of the newest format excited the spectators earlier, the ODIs continued to enjoy its space elsewhere. However, with the rise of franchise-based T20 leagues worldwide in the past decade, the inclination towards T20 cricket grew.

Meanwhile, former players and captains, including Steve Waugh, sometime last year, raised concerns over the lack of crowds at ODI games, pointing fingers at players choosing easy money by opting for the leagues instead of playing ODIs and spectators getting attracted to them.

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