England vs Australia - an ODI series too far?

[G.I.Joe]

Originally Posted by Jono

Those damn Indians and their 7 match ODI series.

The BCCI are evil. They're bullying world cricket by forcing England and Australia to play a 7 ODI series

[social]

If Aus win the Ashes, I'll watch it and not really care about the result

If Oz lose the Ashes, I'll watch it with the sound off

Seriously, I much preferred it when the ODIs were part of the build-up to the test series but this scheduling is something that's forced on the ECB by other commitments.

In any event, I'd much prefer 3 * 20/20 and 3*ODIs - 7 * ODIs is just overkill

In terms of player burnout, this series is really pretty meaningless so they should use it as an opportunity to blood/rotate players

[Richard]

Next summer's schedule in its entirity is diabolical - given there's a Twenty20 World thingy being hosted in England, the usual second touring side should be off the agenda. Unfortunately, the Twenty20 World thingy was probably organised too late to alter schedules, with various contracts already having been signed.

If I was told there'd be this Twenty20 World thingy and an Ashes tour in the same summer, my ideal schedule, if I had no pre-arranged TV contract commitments, would be Twenty20 thingy in May and early June, 5 Australia ODIs starting mid-June, Ashes series starting mid-July and finishing right at the start of September.

The fact that they've got an international Twenty20 tournament, seven Tests, ten ODIs (plus a joke game against Ireland) and two other Twenty20 internationals is just beyond belief. WTF was the need for one, never mind two, Australia Twenty20s when there's just been an event a few months ago featuring all the national sides?

In 2000, Matthew Engel criticised the fact that the international summer started in mid-May, and not without justification. Next summer, it will start right at the start of May and pretty much not stop until the end of September. Plain madness. We can only hope such a thing never happens again.

Oh, and yes, I'm always against the last ODI of the English summer being played after the last Test. Works well in Australia; dreadful idea over here. The final act of the summer should be the bigger Test series. But that doesn't mean it should finish in mid-September. And the ODIs should all be played midsummer.

(And yes, ideally Twenty20 shouldn't be played internationally as part of a Test tour. But doubly so when there's a multinational event that same season)

[four_or_six]

Originally Posted by four_or_six

Given it's in September, half of them will probably rain off.

Bump.

2/9 gone so far.

[slippyslip]

Best of seven series would be better. If one team wins 4-0 then thats it.

With a best of series it actually gives you a feeling the games matter. More often than not you get to the 6th and 7th games and the series is decided. Thats what kills the fun.

If England and Australia are locked 3-3 going into the 7th will you be bored and not watch it? Doubt it. Most cricket fans would still be looking forward to the final match.

If England or Australian are 4-1 up going into the final 2 matches what the hell is the point.

I had a lot more interested in the 5th game against NZ in Australia this year than the 5th game against South AFrica after they had already won the series.

[zaremba]

Agree with slippy.

But then again they will be determined to milk this particular cow till its udder bleeds. So it'd probably end up as best of eleven.

[GIMH]

Originally Posted by slippyslip

Best of seven series would be better. If one team wins 4-0 then thats it.

With a best of series it actually gives you a feeling the games matter. More often than not you get to the 6th and 7th games and the series is decided. Thats what kills the fun.

If England and Australia are locked 3-3 going into the 7th will you be bored and not watch it? Doubt it. Most cricket fans would still be looking forward to the final match.

If England or Australian are 4-1 up going into the final 2 matches what the hell is the point.

I had a lot more interested in the 5th game against NZ in Australia this year than the 5th game against South AFrica after they had already won the series.

Yeah fair point, the series we had with India in 07 was a belter

[PhoenixFire]

Yeah but how would you deal with the grounds and stuff for the final 3 matches if you don't know whether they would be played on or not?

[Uppercut]

They did it with the CB series in Australia for a long time, tbf.

[GIMH]

True, but that was only one ground that missed out and it would be a ground that had probably already hosted a few matches in the series.

[GingerFurball]

Originally Posted by GeraintIsMyHero

Yeah fair point, the series we had with India in 07 was a belter

Always confuses me when people rage about 7 match ODI series, the 2007 England-India series was probably the best ODI series I've watched.

[zaremba]

Originally Posted by GingerFurball

Always confuses me when people rage about 7 match ODI series, the 2007 England-India series was probably the best ODI series I've watched.

Not sure there's any rage as such, but I do have to admit that the prospect of 7 damp autumnal one dayers doesn't send me into shivers of anticipation. Which is a shame - if this had been a 3 match series before the Tests began, I'd be licking my lips.