England’s ODI skipper Eoin Morgan has suggested there is no need for a new world league in the 50-overs format of the game right now, as he believes the World Cup and Champions Trophy still remain appealing enough to attract audiences.
The International Cricket Council is all set to discuss a new league of 13 teams at their annual meeting in Edinburgh this month, with the top two teams playing each other in a final in a sensational revamp of the ODI format, according to latest media reports.
However, Morgan says the current 50-overs format is much more exciting for viewers, despite being often threatened by the enormous rise of the T20 cricket.
“I am not sure it needs it (the world league). Cricket is in a reasonable position at the moment,” the 29-year-old England cricketer, who also captains England’s Twenty20 side.
“The Champions Trophy next year will highlight that, it is a great tournament whereby something is on every game. The World Cup goes on a lot longer,” he added.
Morgan who hails from Dublin further said that while he wants ICC to grow the game in associate nations such as Afghanistan, Ireland and Scotland but scheduling fixtures in an already jam-packed calendar remained a major concern.
“It is interesting to see how the ICC get those games in ahead of different series when the schedule is already jam-packed but I am all for growing the sport,” he added.
“The prospect of playing against associate nations more often and giving them as much cricket as possible is a really good way of growing your sport.
On Sunday there were reports suggesting, plans are now well-advanced to introduce a new ODI league from 2019 involving 13 nations – believed to be the ten Test teams, Afghanistan, Ireland and one other Associate, with Nepal claimed by some as the preferred option in a debate which still has a long way to run.
England will play the first of five one-day matches against Sri Lanka in Nottingham on Tuesday.
Despite the growing popularity of T20 format and decent success of the 50-over World Cup, ICC is also not happy with the response in Test cricket even in the sub-continent, from where most of the global revenue still generates.
ICC apparently believes if all the Test matches once become part of a bigger competition, it will attract more spectators as well as it will give relevance to the contests which otherwise involve only two teams.
That’s why at ICC’s annual conference in Edinburgh there will also be a discussion on the future of Test cricket and possibility of a championship across a two-year cycle.