England-Australia ODI Series Is Cash Cow Cricket In A Saturated Field

After the end of the final Test of an English Test cricket summer at a grey Oval, it was time to clear the decks and drag Australia over for an eight-match extravaganza of white-ball cricket in mid-September. Sounds like a good finale to a B-movie kind of season. The first two serviceable T20 games were shared between Mitch Marsh and Phil Salt’s teams, meaning that the decider was at Manchester, a venue that holds the UK record for the most days washed out in international red-ball cricket. Old Trafford was good for ducks of the farmyard variety. Rainfall was the abiding memory of a super sodden Sunday. There were no winners – including the non-existent crowd – in this drawn series.

While it’s always enticing to see the old Ashes enemies lock horns again in any format, there’s also a time when the value of such a clash has maxed out the entertainment card. The England and Wales Cricket Board will be happy to see sold-out venues (four of the five ODI matches are at capacity). It’s a limited-over cricket festival; an end of term Ball with the chance to boo Steve Smith again. However, the reality on the ground is that this is a late-night party with a hair of the dog vibe. The salivation over the 2023 Ashes cannot be replicated by fixtures in the freezing cold fall to fill the void. This series is squeezing the lemon until the pip is dry. It may end with waterlogged pitches.

People will watch. Crowds will come. It’s fours, sixes and out. That’s how ODI cricket works. As cricket commentator Adam Collins said, this is the ECB’s “September cash-cow series.” Harry Brook says England will just keep bashing away for entertainment and have no fear about the consequences. The captain was as good as his word, smashing a century at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday to keep the series alive and stop Australia securing their 15th straight ODI win. Something was achieved then before the heavens opened to hint that cricketers should do something more seasonal instead.

At least there were many more fans in Durham’s scenic ground than there had been for the rescheduled Metro Bank One Day Cup Final at Trent Bridge between Somerset and Glamorgan the day before. What other sport would have just a smattering of spectators for the denouement of a domestic competition? There were probably as many Sky Sports employees than fans at the ground to record the Welsh side’s victory. The Hundred has eaten up August and a lot of common sense too.

The craziness of cricket scheduling will never cease to amaze. Three days after England won the T20 World Cup in 2022, the powers that be had already agreed a three-match ODI series in the host country, Australia. “We have to do it, and while we’re here we might as well do it. It would be better than going back and then having to come back out another time,” said Moeen Ali. The then ODI coach Matthew Mott, recently relieved of his duties, added that England always saw that series as “something that we will have to be really professional about.” It had all the allure of a trip to the dentist.

Professional sport is now a 365-day event that is frightened of pulling into the terminus for any length of time. As soon as England finish the series at Bristol on 29 September, the first Test at Multan will be just a week away. Earlier this month, Manchester City’s Rodri was warning that players could go on strike if football didn’t stop piling fixtures up. The midfielder is now likely to be out for most of the season after his injury against Arsenal. When will cricketers start calling the shots about the number of games?

After Brook’s unbeaten 110 guided England to a victory in Durham, the skipper addressed some criticism of his perceived laissez-faire approach to hitting balls in the air. “If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field then who cares?,” the Yorkshire batsman had said before the game to back up England’s boldness. The problem with a series too far is care fatigue. On Friday, the home of cricket awaits and it’s the only match of the five that hasn’t sold out. Looking at the weather forecast, those ducks may be waddling down to the outfield at Lord’s rather than the 22 men. If the cricket administrators keep pushing the boat out, they are going to get wet.