‘Greed and overkill’: Forgotten Australia vs India series ‘doesn’t sit right’

NZ Herald

18 Nov, 2023 08:04 PM2 mins to read

Cricket has been accused of “complete greed and overkill” over a bizarre piece of scheduling following the World Cup final. Photo / Getty Images.

Cricket has been accused of “complete greed and overkill” over a bizarre piece of scheduling following the World Cup final.

Cricket superpowers India and Australia will play a pointless five-match T20 series that starts just four days after their World Cup showdown in Ahmedabad.

That comes after a ponderous seven-week World Cup tournament during a year in which the two teams have been constant opponents.

They have played a four-match test series, the world test final and two ODI series. And Australia also had the high-profile, draining Ashes series against England.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan led the criticism, saying on social media: “It doesn’t sit right with me.

“Why can’t we allow players the chance to have a moment’s rest after a WC or whoever wins the chance to celebrate properly for a couple of weeks. It’s complete greed and overkill.”

What Vaughan doesn’t mention is fan fatigue, and the relentless schedule reducing the impact of the World Cup.

News.com predicted that India would contemplate naming a second-string side for the upcoming T20 series.

Australia will rest bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, with the Aussies to host Pakistan in tests that begin 10 days after the T20 battle with India concludes.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain also questioned some of cricket’s timing, saying England were still “physically and mentally exhausted” by the Ashes when they arrived in India for the World Cup.

“Players like Chris Woakes and Mark Wood were mentally and physically exhausted - it’s about planning across formats,” he said.

Teams needed a “reset” between test and limited over cricket “which is what Indian cricket does really well”, he said.