"Long, Boring One": England Star Moeen Ali On ODI Format

Ever since the retirement of England all-rounder Ben Stokes from ODIs, the questions are being asked regarding the 50-over format. Many players have voiced their concern about the growing cricket calendar with many pointing out ODIs, on how the format is losing relevance at the moment. England star Moeen Ali has now spoken out, saying ODIs now feel like a "long, boring format". He also talked about how playing all three formats of the game is not sustainable right now.

"It's all over the place at the minute. You're trying to get a couple of franchise gigs which are decent, 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," ESPNcricinfo quoted Moeen as saying. 

"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 because 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 is just in the middle - there's no importance given to it at the moment," he added.

Further talking on the same topic, Moeen said: "So yeah, I think there's too much - personally 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 said that more players are likely to do what Stokes did and he also spoke about how players are likely to leave one format to look after their well-being. 

"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," said Moeen. 

After the series against India, Stokes had announced that the first ODI against South Africa will be last in the format. After that, he also spoke about the cricket calendar, saying cricketers are not like cars that can be filled with petrol. 

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team Moeen Ali Ben Stokes Cricket