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It's time for some revamp

Among the many suggestions for revamping the One-Day International is Jason Gillespie’s thought of cutting them down to 40 overs per side. This might be an idea worth pursuing as it is has a certain appeal, mathematically too. At twice the length of the T-20, which is all the rage today, the 40-overs ODI may help in the revival of interest.
 
Gillespie is not known just for his resemblance to Jesus Christ, a fact that had been commented upon often enough in his career, but also for his being one of the rare representatives of indigenous people in the national Australian cricket team.
 
Jason did not think of himself as an icon for his people but he did make an impact with his dedicated fast bowling. He will always be the answer to the great trivia question of which Test player was dropped as soon after he made a Test double century. His last days in the sun came when he walked in as night watchman and stayed on to make a double hundred in Bangladesh.
 
His experience in the Indian Cricket League as well as on the English county circuit gives Gillespie the edge in learning to be able to speak up lucidly on the need for change in the format in order to revive the interest levels to what they were when the ODI was the king of cricket and T-20 was not even an idea.
 
Sure, there are bound to be huge problems with any change in formatting because the World Cup of 2011 will be played on the traditional ODI format of 50 overs. Unfortunately, the last edition of the World Cup, which still is the premier event of the cricket calendar, was not exactly a great advertisement for the game and 50-overs cricket has earned a bad name since then.
 
There has been considerable talk on the future of the old fashioned ODI after crowds were seen dwindling this Australian summer in which Pakistan and the West Indies have not proved too good at opposing the home team that has been on a roll since the ODI series in England played soon after the Ashes.
 
The problem may not be particular to Australia, although looking at the crowd response to ODIs in India no one would be inclined to think now about the future of the game. There is also the general view that ODIs have become far too predictable with the middle overs running on a bit like long soliloquies in a Greek tragedy.
 
Yes, 40 overs do have a nice ring to them since they also divide the overs available into 20 with field placement restrictions and 20 without them. They will also chop a couple of hours off a game. Even with all the time wasting that goes on as the end nears in close-run games, a 40-over innings should finish in under 200 minutes. In England, the format is especially popular because games can begin as late as 4 pm and still produce a result before the light goes.
 
The switch down from 50 overs is bound to be debated for long. There is, however, a ring of common sense to it as it cuts a lot of the fluff. Scoring will on an average be nearer seven an over and may touch eight an over soon in the modern day context of big hitting and small grounds. In effect, it will be a game as robust as the T-20, even if it does not seem as spectacular in terms of condensed mayhem. Serious thought must be lent to all this before the last ball is bowled in the next World Cup.

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