Radical new plan to avoid one-day burn-out

The Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) has outlined plans for an international one-day league, in an effort to save the sport from overkill.

Tim May, the chief executive of the ACA, believes that all countries ought to be restricted to 30 ODIs a year, adding that the game had been damaged by a glut of lopsided matches across the globe - as well as the sheer number of games, seemingly haphazard in their organisation.

His solution is radical. He has proposed an international one-day competition every year, with the best nation being crowned champion. The 11 teams would play each of their 10 opponents three times (at home, away and at a neutral venue) for a total of 30 matches. A relegation and promotion system would encourage the developing nations.

"One-day cricket as we know it would be totally scrapped," said May. "This model would give meaning to one-day internationals and would produce a more exciting competition. Indications are that this property would command far greater media rights and sponsorship money."

Ricky Ponting, who arrived back in Australia yesterday for a well-earned break ahead of next month's Test series against Bangladesh, would probably endorse May's suggestions. Since September, the Australian side has had only three weeks off from touring or playing, and Ponting has warned that several of his players are close to becoming burnt out. "All the players want to play as much cricket for Australia as they can, but at the same time don't want to be worn out, fatigued and have their careers cut a little bit shorter than they might have been," Ponting told reporters. "I think that's the fear of everyone at the moment."

Ponting added that the issue had been raised with administrators but so far little had changed. "It's the biggest fear we've got in the team and hopefully people start listening to us pretty soon."

Ponting's comments found support from Warwick Franks, the editor of Wisden Australia. "A lot of people think the season's gone on too long," Franks told the Sydney Morning Herald. "They've just gone on and on and on. There's a real sense of the law of diminishing returns."

Writing on the ACA's website, May admitted that one-day matches were cricket's saviour in terms of revenue, but the ICC risked damaging its blue-chip product by putting on too much cricket. "Cricket authorities have identified that ... cricket is potentially damaged by the over-scheduling of uneven matches," said May, "yet they continue to put more of it out there for us to consume. There's a series here and a series there, some best of five, some best of seven, some tri-series - no real structure and apart from the sides competing, no real relevance. It is confusing, at times boring and it is getting predictable."

James Sutherland, the chief executive of the Australian Cricket Board, did not make any specific comment on the ACA plan, although he conceded the Australian players deserved a rest on their return from the West Indies. "We have just had a very hectic cricket programme, made more intense by the eight-week World Cup campaign which came on top of our normal peak time of the year," he said. "We are conscious of the need for players to now have a break."