Cricket Australia chief: Context vital for bilateral ODIs

The bosses of Cricket Australia believe ODIs can continue to play a key part in the men’s international game but have stressed the importance of having context around bilateral fixtures.

Australia’s men will play three home ODIs this seasonAFP/Getty Images

Mike Baird, the CA chair, suggested that performances such as the 40-ball century by Glenn Maxwell against Netherlands show how the T20 game can help keep the one-day format relevant.

“We certainly see a role for all three formats,” he said. “To see a T20 century, Glenn Maxwell came in in the 39th over, so the spectacular impact of that in an ODI it adds a whole other dimension than just a T20.

“It’s an important format, we certainly think there’s a role. What is important is context, [not] just having matches without connecting them into qualifiers for a World Cup as an example – so those are the things, how do you give more context.”

Central contracts vs franchise cricket

Linked to the changing nature of the men’s international game, particularly around white-ball cricketers, is how players are contracted to their national boards. Nine newspapers reported that CA has put a group of their leading players on multi-year deals and the ECB has recently done the same.

News Corp also reported this week that there is now a mechanism within contracts where players can be docked a percentage of their earnings if they opt to play in overseas tournaments during the home season.

“It is designed so that if a situation does not clearly warrant a player being given a [No Objection Certificate], the answer doesn’t have to be only ‘no, you can’t go and play’. It is ‘let’s have a conversation and see if we can negotiate a mutually satisfactory outcome’,” Todd Greenberg, the Australia Cricketers’ Association CEO, said. “That keeps the relationship strong and the player in our Australian system for longer.”

CA acknowledged the rapidly changing landscape and how all sides need to work together.

“We are conscious of the increased opportunity for players and to show some level of flexibility to pursue opportunities, certainly in the IPL and some of the other leagues around the world, is something we’ll need to support going forward,” Hockley said.

“To go forward into the future, there are changes that are here, there are changes that are coming,” Baird added. “The fundamental thing we need is trust and that relationship with the players and we’ve certainly established that.”

CA makes a loss, but confidence for years to come

Meanwhile, CA reported a loss of nearly AUD$17 million for the last financial year but that was a stronger performance than expectations aided by AUD$42 million coming from hosting the men’s T20 World Cup.

The upcoming year, which sees the men’s team host Pakistan and West Indies at home, is expected to also be loss-making before two big-earning seasons with India and England touring for five-match Test series in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

“It’s part of the cycle … these [past] 12 months is the difficult period,” Baird said. “But we’re certainly very confident on where we’re going … over the next two or three years, the forecasts are really strong.”

Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo