GREAT DEBATE | ODI cricket... keep it or can it?

The first-ever One-Day International (ODI) was played between Australia and England on 5 January 1971 after the first three days of the New Year's Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground were washed out.

With the weather clearing on the fourth day, the teams decided to stage a 40-overs a side match that became the first-ever limited overs international.

Since the introduction of Twenty20 cricket in 2002, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has continuously tried to adapt and change one-day cricket in order to compete with the popular T20 format.

With the format now 50 years old, is it thriving or a dying part of the modern game? 

Sport24 felt it would be a good idea to take a look at both sides of the coin. 

Lynn Butler makes a case that ODIs are a necessary part of cricket worldwide, while Craig Taylor doesn't see the need for the format to continue as a part of international tours.

What do YOU think? Let us know your thoughts on one-day cricket by mailing us at mysport24@sport24.co.za or by tweeting us at @sport24news.

The case for ODIs - Lynn 

There is a school of thought in the cricketing world that interest in the one-day game is slowly declining and for those who think so, I have one example for you: the 2019 Cricket World Cup final.

Those heart-pounding moments at Lord's made you either love or hate the game (depending on who you were supporting) and had you saying, "but that's not a four!" or "how do you win a game by the number of boundaries hit?" It's thrilling, it's frustrating and it's a prime example of why there's still a need for ODI cricket.

As a Test-loving gal, I gravitate towards one-day cricket more so because honestly, who cares about the T20 format? Test-match cricket will always be the purest form of the sport, while ODIs are seen as the ICC's "marquee" event and a sure money spinner.

One-day cricket tests a player's ability to adapt to the situation and offers them an opportunity to redeem themselves whether it means coming back for another bowling spell or finally landing that century after a string of 50s.

It also offers teams the opportunity to rebuild if in early trouble and those "boring and dull" middle overs in ODIs is where a cricketer's true skill comes to the forefront.

It would be naive not to acknowledge T20's ever-increasing popularity, which attracts a younger audience to the game and fills stadiums. However, our cricketing calendar is filled with T20 leagues across the world and honestly, after a month of the Indian Premier League or the Big Bash, I need to fully cleanse myself with some "real" cricket.

Over the last 50 years, the ICC has tinkered with one-day cricket more so than any of the other formats. Batting and bowling powerplays and two balls per innings are just some of the ways they've tried to change it up over the years. Yet, in essence, the same game remains from when the format started in the early 1970s.

Ask any South African cricket fan to name one memorable match and they'll either say the 1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final or the famed '438 Game'. These two ODIs provided a looking glass into South Africa's complex cricketing history, one signified the heartbreak (which the Proteas have continued to endure at ICC events) and the other hope.

One-day cricket is severely under-rated and if the ICC continues to prioritise T20 cricket, it'll be detrimental to the game we all love. So for me, one-day cricket is a format that's here to stay.

The case against ODIs - Craig

When it comes to the one-day international cricket format, the only thing that's memorable is the Cricket World Cup. And that's only once every four years.

For me, the 50-over game has outstayed its welcome. Since the advent of T20 cricket, it's been dying a slow death. In fact, in future, I would rather see teams touring other countries for just a series of Test matches and T20 internationals. That allows for tours to include more Test matches than currently is the case. Administrators can then add 'hit and giggle' T20s before or after the Tests to appease the bean counters.

But let me give the reasoning why I think ODIs should be scrapped. Well, in a nutshell, the one day game has become stale and just a little boring. There are two main reasons for that in my book.

The first is the fact that between overs 20 and 40, the batting side generally goes into cruise mode, especially in matches where teams are of similar strength. It's all about keeping the run-rate ticking over while also ensuring that they have wickets in hand for the final 10 over onslaught. 

There are notable exceptions to this style of play, for example, England, who give license to their batsmen to go hard all innings. Most teams, however, aim for a fast start and a fast end with boredom in between.

The second reason is that batsmen dominate the modern limited-overs game. That's mainly because bat technology has come such a long way in the past two decades. But it's also because one-day pitches often have nothing in them for bowlers, particularly the quicks. Sure they might spin a little but there is very little seam movement and if the ball doesn't swing, fast bowlers generally suffer. A fairer contest would certainly make ODIs more exciting. Boundary after boundary can get a little boring after a while.

Don't agree? Well, let me ask you this then. Over and above the World Cups in which the Proteas have participated, do you really remember the results of ODI series' they have played in?

Just five months ago, they faced England in an ODI series with games in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Can you remember the results and who won overall?

Well, I watched all the games and I struggled to remember the outcome, which incidentally saw the teams share the spoils 1-1 with the game in Durban a washout. Just how memorable is this format of the game if a close series at the start of this year is so easily forgotten?

Despite the scenario I painted earlier, cricket administrators are never going to consign ODIs to the scrap heap. With Test cricket only financially viable in England and Australia where the crowds still flock to see matches, other countries need one-day cricket to help fill their coffers.

Perhaps a shake-up in the format is necessary. Some have suggested four innings of 25 overs each. Would that help? I'm not sure.

But if one-day cricket disappeared tomorrow and it meant longer Test tours, I certainly wouldn't mourn it.