ODI cricket should be played at World Cups, says new MCC president Mark Nicholas

Incoming MCC president Mark Nicholas has succeeded Stephen Fry.

The fever for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India is rising among cricket fans. Cricket’s most coveted prize will be up for grabs in a 46-day-long event in India. The tournament will be played across 10 venues in India where a total of 10 teams will be participating in the event. World Cup 2023 will commence on 5th October with defending champions England taking on New Zealand. Fans are expecting some great cricketing in the 50-overs format. 

The rising number of T20 leagues around the world has curtailed the number of international matches played by teams. Tests and T20Is are still regular fixtures but ODI numbers have gone down as several teams prefer Tests or T20Is in bilateral series. Now, incoming MCC president Mark Nicholas has made a huge statement about ODI cricket’s future. Mark Nicholas has suggested that ODI cricket should only be played in World Cups as his preserving measures. 

Mark Nicholas' big statement on future of ODI cricket

Mark Nicholas has succeeded Stephen Fry as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) chief. Talking about his preserving measures for ODIs, Nicholas said, “We believe strongly that ODIs should be played in World Cups only. We think it’s difficult to justify them bilaterally now. They are not filing grounds in a lot of countries. And there is a power at the moment to T20 cricket that is almost supernatural.” T20 leagues have been overpowering international cricket recently. 

Incoming MCC president Mark Nicholas also asserted his thoughts on T20 leagues, and said, “It’s more than just ticket sales. It’s the number of people that want to own franchises, the number of countries that want to run the tournament, it’s the number of players that want to be in a market all around the world.” A lot of players have left international cricket and opted out of the central contracts to remain a free market player and joined T20 leagues. 

ICC Cricket Super League was brought in to give bilateral ODIs meaning in the 2019-23 World Cup cycle. This gave every team a fair chance and inspired the teams to go hard against each other even in dead rubber games. Due to the Super League, West Indies and Sri Lanka were forced to play in the World Cup qualifier where the two-time world champions, West Indies, were knocked out. The next World Cup will be played in South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe in 2027 with 14 teams.