David Leggat: ODI trimming points to future

First some good news. The Warriors have had a big win this season.

Yes, the same Warriors who have limped through the second half of the NRL well off the required pace.

But all those who have bemoaned a grim campaign, which ends in farewelling Stacey Jones tonight, take heart: Danielle has been named cheerleader of the year.

In a tough competition, the 22-year-old Warriors sideline star beat seven other cheer people from the other NRL clubs to triumph in the competition run by a league magazine.

Or, in the way they like to do these things, she became the first girl outside New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory to win the crown "in 10 years of Big League pom pom battles!"

So all was not doom and gloom at Warriorsville. They're not in the eight, but for Danielle things are great. Indeed it is something of an awards season. Other New Zealand sports performers are in the frame for gongs.

Six New Zealand cricketers are finalists for the International Cricket Council awards - captain Dan Vettori, batsmen Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder and Suzie Bates, Haidee Tiffen and Aimee Watkins.

But something seems amiss here.

Vettori is one of 14 players in line for the ICC player of the year; Vettori and Ryder are among 19 (!) for test player of the year; Guptill is one of 13 vying for ODI top player; Guptill and Ryder are two of eight (that's more like it) for emerging player and Bates, Tiffen and Watkins are in the 15-strong field for best woman.

What's with the size of these finalists groups? Okay, 10 often seems too neat and round a number. Five? A touch small. What's wrong with seven, or nine. Something a little edgier.

But if you are not among the 19 for test player of the year and you've had a half decent year, wouldn't you be miffed?

Why 19? There's no logic to it. Why not 29, or 39. It seems just as meaningless a number. Still, mustn't quibble. Throw in umpires Billy Bowden and Tony Hill in a field of eight and we've got reasonable representation.

Actually considering the variable standard, if you're not in that group of finalists you might feel it's time to head for the bowling green. South African Rudi Koertzen, take note.

All will be revealed on October 1 in Johannesburg at what the ICC modestly, if inevitably, describes as "a glittering ceremony".

If Guptill happens to win his ODI category - and the Auckland batsman has had a fine entry to international cricket in the last year - he should treasure it and put the trophy somewhere safe.

A decision which slipped under the radar this week might make that award a precious commodity in the near future. The England and Wales Cricket Board has opted to scrub its domestic 50-over competition from next season.

Instead, England's counties will focus on 20- and 40-over competitions, with the first-class championship. Thin end of the wedge? Perhaps.

In the next few days, New Zealand's domestic programme will be revealed, including Twenty20, 50-over and first-class competitions.

In six years, New Zealand and Australia are due to host the 50-over World Cup.

The ICC are to review the format after the 2011 World Cup on the sub-continent. That is not to suggest New Zealand will miss out on their hosting opportunity, but does point to a significant ODI trimming across the game, sacrificed on the altar of the three-hour game.

England's counties voted 13-5 to ditch the 50-over competition as Twenty20, with a wiggle of the hips and fluttering of the eyelids, continues to entrance the game's decision-makers.

South Africa are reviewing - contemplating ditching - their 45-over domestic competition, yet rank No 1 ODI team. Might that hint at what lies ahead around the globe?