One-day cricket's player-investor conundrum

In light of Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited-overs cricket, Stephen Brenkley, writing in the Independent, says one-day cricket is still the preferred format for the investors but may well die out if the players withdraw their support and goodwill towards it.

The most berated of all ICC competitions is the Champions Trophy, the next version of which is to be played in England in 2013, yet over the years it has also been the biggest money earner. It is a shorter competition than the World Cup and tends to feature the top teams with correspondingly closer matches.

Next year's tournament is being played instead of the inaugural World Test Championship which was originally scheduled. The ICC's broadcast partners were unwilling to sacrifice either advertising revenue or audiences. Who can blame them? Certainly not the players who have become accustomed to big money, which will continue to be guaranteed only by broadcasting rights being sold for significant amounts.