Do the one-dayers matter?

As I write, the second T20 is about to get under way. Good luck lads. Two-nil has rather an attractive ring to it.

But from Sunday, the tone changes again – with the first of an eye-popping seven 50 over ODIs between us and Australia.

Within English cricket, opinions vary widely about the importance – or otherwise – of 50 over cricket. Which is why we’d like to hear your thoughts on the following question – does it matter if we win the one-dayers?

Here are the main arguments for and against:

Yes, they do matter The World Cup begins in five weeks’ time. Not only have we never won cricket’s premier trophy, but our last four tournaments have ended in humiliation. Whether we like it or not, the World Cup is taken very seriously by the rest of the cricket world, and we need to compete strongly – hence the importance of these seven ODIs as preparation.

Plus – wouldn’t we rather end such a fabulous tour on a positive, winning note, rather than the soggy anti-climax of defeat? It’s unprecedented for us to have Australia so completely at our mercy. Let’s keep them down – and establish a complete psychological stranglehold over them, ahead of 2013.

No, they don’t matter Who looks back at the 2006/7 series and thinks – actually, that was a pretty good tour for England in the end, because we won the one-dayers. As if. We were destroyed in the test matches, and our eventual victory in the CB series was a complete irrelevance, about which Australia didn’t give two hoots. We only remember the result because of its incongruity. Anyone recall the ODI result from any other Ashes tour?

The urn is all. If you’re English or Australian, the Ashes are cricket. They’re all that anyone cares about. And to contest this historic, symbolic prize, the two sides have spent the last seven weeks engaged in five long, hard test matches – all richly invested with emotion, tradition, blood, sweat and tears. After such a true test of strength, what more can seven 50 over matches tell us about which team holds the upper hand? ODIs are take-away snacks, packaged to provide a fun day out for live spectators. Nice to win them, but instantly forgettable if you don’t. This is the view to which I personally subscribe.

Thoughts? What’s your view?

Maxie Allen

1 comment

  • It’s true that no one will remember the seven match ODI series, but it’s the only real preparation England are going to get for the World Cup; that’s a competition that will be remembered, in the Indian sub-continent and in the record books, if no where else.

    If England are hammered in the World Cup, on the plus side, at least it means England players are a little less likely to picked up in the next IPL auction; that’s properly an advantage for the national team.

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