‘50-over cricket might be in trouble in the years ahead’: Jonty Rhodes

Rotterdam: Former South African fielding legend Jonty Rhodes believes that while bilateral ODI series may dwindle in the coming years, it remains nearly impossible to imagine a world without the 50-over format.

Acknowledging that the traditional 50-over game faces rising pressure from the global surge in franchise T20 tournaments, Rhodes highlighted that loyal supporters will continue to back their sides regardless of the format.

"When T20 cricket first started, people were saying it is going to put pressure on Test cricket and amazingly it has not. Some of the Test cricket looks like T20 at times, there is some aggressive batting and bowling," Rhodes told reporters during the jersey launch for the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) franchise Rotterdam Dockers on Tuesday.

"For me, it is always understanding that 50-overs cricket might be the one format where -- because we bring in such a fresh crowd and a different perspective into the game -- possibly 50-overs cricket might be in trouble in the years ahead.

"From a point of view, we're really fortunate that what 50-overs cricket has is that you've got really passionate fans who will support their team no matter what format or version it is," Rhodes said.

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"At this stage, I think there will be fewer and fewer bilateral series... but it is very difficult to think of cricket without the 50-over version."

Rhodes, who co-owns the Rotterdam Dockers set to compete in the inaugural ETPL across Voorburg and Dublin, warned that the rapid multiplication of T20 leagues could push marquee stars to step away from international cricket sooner.

"We've seen a FIFA World Cup football and the passion that people have for playing for their country, it's often the case because they don't get to play that often. So outside of a FIFA World Cup year, most of those international stars are playing for their clubs and their franchises and you might see more and more of that happening on a cricketing perspective," he said.

"To have three different formats within cricket competing with franchise cricket around the world, players will start making a choice and that choice will be ending their international career slightly earlier," Rhodes added.

Looking ahead to the next ODI World Cup—which South Africa will co-host alongside Zimbabwe and Namibia—Rhodes voiced optimism about the Proteas' chances to finally break their ICC trophy drought on home soil.

"We as South Africans are looking forward to hosting it. It's been a while and it's great that it's come around again. Good timing for us, the team is playing pretty well," he noted. "There's a few things that we would like to settle and one of those is obviously winning an ICC limited-overs trophy," Rhodes added.

Reflecting on how fielding standards have transformed since his playing era, Rhodes credited modern players for taking ownership of their athletic conditioning and praised India's radical shift in fielding culture.

"It actually came from the players themselves and that for me is a real revelation to see how the players practice these days. We see some great things happening on the field and the reason is because they put the hours into practice doing exactly that," he observed.

"The positional play, and what we saw 10 years ago, you could have three or four good fielders and you could hide four or five players. These days, you can't even hide one.

"(In the Indian team) Virat Kohli insisted that you had to be fit and you had to be a good fielder and fairly robust in the field and athletic, and the fitness levels were important. We've seen the evolution in India of a team that had one or two great fielders to now a team that there's nobody to hide," he added. (PTI)