The rise of Twenty20, the fall of ODIs

It may be then that 50-over cricket, the link between the longest and shortest forms of the game, is the format to go, and if this would be a pity – for all its apparent mid-innings flaws, it still has the capacity to produce the sort of enthralling come-back and counter-punches that Twenty20 by its frenetic nature cannot – then for the good of the game, something has to give. Beyond the next World Cup, scheduled in 2011 to be staged goodness knows where, the opportunity is there to rationalise the programme, free the logjam. A World Cup of Twenty20 cricket to be played every two years should be ample.