Moeen Ali, the England all-rounder feels that if changes aren’t made to the current schedule, cricketers will stop playing ODI cricket.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has claimed that ODI cricket could be lost if the unsustainable domestic and international calendar isn’t fixed. Ben Stokes’ recent ODI retirement has put the spotlight on the 50-over game, with many experts wanting the format to be scrapped from the international calendar.

Moeen Ali Thinks Interest In 50 Overs ODI Cricket Has Diminished

Moeen Ali said that he feels that ODIs could end up being in the history books as the interest in the 50-over game seems to be decreasing. The England all-rounder also claimed that in a few years’ time, players wouldn’t be interested in taking part in the limited-overs format.

“It just feels like it’s going that way and there’s nothing almost you can do because I think the interest in 50-over cricket is not there as it probably once was.”

“So yeah, having won it in 2019 it’s a difficult one because I genuinely feel in two to three years’ time, nobody’s going to want to play it.”

“It’s a bit like our domestic stuff here at the moment, there’s the Hundred while the 50-over is going on and there’s not that much interest in it compared to the County Championship, the Vitality Blast and the Hundred,” said Moeen Ali.

Ben Stokes, who ended up retiring from ODIs during this period in a bid to prolong his future in Tests (as captain) and T20Is ahead of the 2022 T20I World Cup this winter, used his media engagements around his farewell to call for change.

Moeen Ali Reckons More Cricketers Will Retire From ODIs In Forthcoming Years As ODI Isn’t Sustainable

“International cricket in all three formats is by far the best cricket to play. There’s no doubt about that, but I do worry there are so many tournaments out there that players are retiring more now and you’ll see more retiring soon.”

“At the moment it’s not sustainable in my opinion. Something has to be done because I fear losing the 50-over format in a couple of years, because it’s almost like the long, boring one if that makes sense.

“It’s almost like you’ve got T20s, you’ve got the Test matches, which are great and then the 50 overs is just in the middle there’s no importance given to at the moment. So yeah, I think there’s too much. Personally, I feel like there’s too much going on,” said Ali.

Moeen Ali also warned players are now more like to do as Ben Stokes has done and ditch a format of the game for their own ambitions and well-being. The off-spinning allrounder did similar at the end of the 2021 summer when he ruled himself out of Test selection, only to admit he was open to adding to his 64 caps in June.

Appearing in his last ODI against South Africa at Durham on July 19, the 31-year-old couldn’t perform up to the expectations. But by that time, he had earned so much for English cricket that performance in the farewell match was not that mandatory.

Ben Stokes’ ODI career will forever be remembered for his Player-of-the-Match performance in the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand at the Lord’s three years ago. His unbeaten 84 helped to send the match into a Super Over as England claimed their first 50-over World Cup title in the most thrilling of circumstances.

An outstanding knock of unbeaten 84 from Ben Stokes helped England win their first ever 50-over World Cup in a nail-biting thriller as the game ended in a tie after 50 overs, followed by another tie in the Super Over.