Hayden calls for right balance of Test, 50-over matches
By ANISaturday, October 23, 2010
SYDNEY - New Cricket Australia (CA) Director Matthew Hayden has said that the cricket calendar should be rearranged to have a right balance between Test and 50-over matches.
Hayden said that the current mix of cricket is flawed, and one which is not customer-driven enough.
“I don’t think it’s producing cricket that’s in the best interest of the game. It’s got to be addressed, and it is being addressed,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Hayden, as saying.
The 38-year-old held as an example England’s tour of Australia this year, consisting of five Ashes Tests and a seven-match ODI series.
“We’ll see five potentially unbelievable Test matches. Interest is going to be really high. Then we’re going to roll out seven one-dayers on the back of it. It’s too many,” Hayden said.
“Right now, I guarantee you at game six in this one-day series, [interest] won’t be the same,” he added.
Hayden further called for expansion of the Big Bash Twenty20 competition, saying that his time with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has exposed him to new horizons of the format.
“I believe in carving out a period of time where we can expand the Big Bash tournament. It’s a serious domestic product. It’s got to happen sooner rather than later. It’s the future of the game,” he said. (ANI)
