Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has suggested a plan for the survival of the all-three formats of cricket. The emergence of T20 cricket has cast shadows on the future of Test cricket and Vaughan wants the longest format of the game to survive for the next 50 years. In recent times, T20 has emerged as the most followed format of the game courtesy of the franchise leagues and fast-packed action. The ICC even introduced the World Test Championship in the pursuit to keep fans’ interest alive in red-ball cricket and it has managed to revive it so far.
Speaking to veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on his Youtube show – DRS with ASH, Vaughan made a bold claim that too many formats are making things difficult for all of them to survive.
“I’ll be honest; I think there are too many formats in the game for them all to survive. Test match cricket has to survive; it’s the heritage of our sport. I hope in 50 years’ time, we’re all still talking about Test match cricket like we do now,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan feels that the white-ball formats are not creating many problems as the administrators have to work out a plan to find a solution.
“I do think we have an issue with T20 cricket and 50-over cricket. I think it’s just how the administrators and you players come together and try and work out what is the best solution for a lot of the problems that the game has at the minute.”
The former England skipper himself provided a solution for the survival of all three formats where he suggested to have 50-over format only reserved for World Cups.
“Let’s try to have windows in our calendar where you have one month where you play just Test cricket, then another month for T20 cricket, then for the IPL,” he said.
“In among all that, it’s very difficult to continue with 50-over cricket as well. It might be that the only 50-over cricket that will be played will be every four years at the World Cup,” he said.
Vaughan feels that the ODI cricket has now become an extension of the T20 format as it has revolutionized the playing style of cricketers.
“I know there will be die-hards who will ask how will you be good at 50-over cricket if you don’t play it? But 50-over cricket now is just an extension of T20 cricket. Players try to bat like T20 cricket for 50 overs. That’s why you see 350-400 scores regularly.”
