Former England international Moeen Ali lashed out at ODI cricket, claiming it to be the worst format to play and added that ODI cricket has died. He explained that the bowlers are given no advantages.
Former England cricketer Moeen Ali complained of ODI cricket being the ‘worst format to play’. He has featured in 138 ODI matches in his career, scoring 2355 runs and clinching 111 wickets at an average of 47.84. The 37-year-old announced his retirement from the format after the ODI World Cup 2023 and after the T20 World Cup 2024, he announced retirement from international cricket.
Moeen stated that the ODI cricket has kost charm and fans only watch it during the World Cups and Champions Trophy. He blamed the rules for its downfall, noting that the decision to have an extra fielder outside the 30-yard circle after the first powerplay is a horrible rule and it allows the batters to play without any fear and for the same reason, plenty of runs are being scored.
“The format has almost completely died out, apart from World Cups and Champions Trophy. It is the worst format to play and I think there are many reasons for that,” Moeen told Talksport Cricket.
“I think the rules are terrible. To have that extra fielder in after [the first powerplay], I think it’s a horrendous rule for taking wickets, building any sort of pressure. Guys are averaging 60, 70 in ODI cricket now because of that. When you’re bowling at somebody and you put a little bit of pressure, he just reverse-sweeps and it’s not even a single, it’s a four. It’s just there’s always that option available for the batters [to score]” he added.
He further pointed out that the decision to have two new balls to start with kills the idea of reverse swing. He noted that the batters are given the advantage and concluded that ODI cricket has died.
“On top of all this, you have two new balls, you lose the reverse swing, you lose the art of trying to hit a softer ball. Everything’s always in the middle and crisp and it’s flying off your bat and stuff. I think for those reasons, the cricket has just died. 50-over cricket has died,” Moeen continued.