How many more World Cups will there be?

[GIMH]

Despite all the moaning about a lack of close games and the format (NB I wouldn't go with this format) I really did enjoy the WC. It was great having meaningful cricket on every day and some of the games really drove home how much ebb and flow you get in ODIs, compared with T20 (and I'm not knocking T20, I love it for what it is). I think most of the posters on here would say they enjoy ODIs,obviously not unanimously, but.

However the main podcasts I listen to are The Final Word, all of Jarrod Kimber's and the Wisden podcast. And universally across these they are convinced that the WC is an endangered species.

I hope they are wrong, but fear they may be correct. 50 over cricket is treated like an afterthought domestically here in England and I understand it's the same down under. England will play a few ODIs in a couple of weeks and after that none for nine months. I'm sure other countries will have similar tales.

Some, such as Kimber, go as far to say they aren't convinced 2027 will happen.

What say ye? Are the doom mongers correct?

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

8.

 

[Daemon]

We haven’t had ODIs since 2011, not sure what you’re on about

 

[The Hillside]

Many more....90,000 fans in the final of the ODI WC 2023....explains that....

Even the matches in the ODI WC 2019 were all mostly packed stadiums...

And yeah in South Africa in ODI WC 2027, you would see lots of people from all countries...so that's gonna be another packed affair...

How about emerging teams like Afghanistan and Netherlands....ODIs are gonna stay for long and so is the ODI World Cup...just depends that some matches are more watchable and some aren't...but wasn't that the case even when the T20i's didn't exist?

 

[Molehill]

I hope they are wrong, but fear they may be correct. 50 over cricket is treated like an afterthought domestically here in England and I understand it's the same down under. England will play a few ODIs in a couple of weeks and after that none for nine months. I'm sure other countries will have similar tales.

At least when Aus play their 50 over comp it doesn't clash with the Big Bash too. There's afterthoughts and then there's the English Afterthought!!

I don't think it's going anywhere, although would be nice if Australia would maybe let some others win it occasionally. If one thing might be kill it, it could be that.

 

[Nintendo]

Many more....90,000 fans in the final of the ODI WC 2023....explains that....

Even the matches in the ODI WC 2019 were all mostly packed stadiums...

And yeah in South Africa in ODI WC 2027, you would see lots of people from all countries...so that's gonna be another packed affair...

How about emerging teams like Afghanistan and Netherlands....ODIs are gonna stay for long and so is the ODI World Cup...just depends that some matches are more watchable and some aren't...but wasn't that the case even when the T20i's didn't exist?

The issue isn't wc attendance, it's the fact that noene watches the bilateral series in between them.

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

The BCCI controls the ICC , aslong as they are happy for World Cups to continue it will continue. That's the way I look at it.

 

[Aidan11]

50 over cricket still brings in a lot of money for the big three.

There will still be World Cups but maybe downsized to 8 teams in future.

 

[Yeoman]

The tv rights have been sold until 2031 so ODIs are safe until then. Bilaterals are more likely to whither on the vine between times however.

 

[SteveNZ]

As I said in the final thread, records/milestone discussions and the interest in statistics lose their depth if ODIs are partly or canned as a whole. I truly think that counts for something. We saw a lot of discussion around this during this World Cup. From hardcore fans, true, but I dunno what you have if you don't have those.

To me (only an opinion) T20 will never have statistical relevance in any depth.

 

[Immenso]

It will definitely go to 2031 at least as per the current contracts.

The randomness and 'unknown quantity' of teams not playing many games between world cups can generate it its own intrigue.

If they play zero ODIs between world cups, then it will die. Obviously. Mark Nicholas's suggestion/idea is stupid.

If they play few/fewer. It will be fine(ish).

But, it doesn't really have the 'prestige' of being 'the' world cup anymore. It is one of a stable of competitions.

I remember back to the halcyon days of 1987 when NZ played 4 ODIs in the 12 months leading up to the 1987 tournament (admittedly it would have been 8 if 4 weren't cancelled after Colombo bomb blast). And our best player declined to go. But, we were crap ...

From a financial POV, from NZC viewpoint. I hope it survives. ICC distributions are the NZC lifeline.

But, I didn't watch any of the tournament, But, I am ODI-jaded from the 90s & 00s glut.

 

[Spark]

50 over cricket still brings in a lot of money for the big three.

There will still be World Cups but maybe downsized to 8 teams in future.

Yeah this is what people miss - from a financial point of view, ODIs gave been disproportionately lucrative for a long time. That's probably still the case and why boards are still happy to play them.

 

[TheJediBrah]

But, it doesn't really have the 'prestige' of being 'the' world cup anymore. It is one of a stable of competitions.

I disagree. It still felt like the one that really mattered. I couldn't tell you who won any of the T20 World Cups except the last 2 because of recency (and because Australia won 1 and the other was in Australia). But I could reel off every 50 over World Cup winner in 10 seconds without thinking.

Also (as a fan) having "won" the WTC championship, Ashes thrashings at home/retaining away, World T20 in 2021, I can tell you nothing came close to the actual World Cup.

WTC was pretty meaningless, T20 "World Cup" only slightly less so. Ashes is the one thing that could come close but still not as big a deal. This is the one that matters and I think most would feel the same way

 

[Yeoman]

The T20 World Cup lacks the history of the 50/60 over version. It is generating a track record however it also suffers from being played too often, making winning it less meaningful - another competition and another winner will be along in a short while.

As I have written before, the idea of a final for the WTC does not sit well with the nature of the format - a serious format demands a serious method of deciding a winner - a league (ideally a proper league with all play all) rather than a one off game.

 

[TheJediBrah]

WTC is a joke. Shouldn't be given any value, for multiple reasons.

 

[SteveNZ]

I disagree. It still felt like the one that really mattered. I couldn't tell you who won any of the T20 World Cups except the last 2 because of recency (and because Australia won 1 and the other was in Australia). But I could reel off every 50 over World Cup winner in 10 seconds without thinking.

Also (as a fan) having "won" the WTC championship, Ashes thrashings at home/retaining away, World T20 in 2021, I can tell you nothing came close to the actual World Cup.

WTC was pretty meaningless, T20 "World Cup" only slightly less so. Ashes is the one thing that could come close but still not as big a deal. This is the one that matters and I think most would feel the same way

Yep, 100% agreed on the 50-over winners as opposed to 20 over comps. I remember England won one in the West Indies, I'm going to pick around 2010 or so, the Windies won one when Brathwaite went nuts but I can't remember the year, Australia won the 2021 one, I think England won last year then I'm probably missing some. But I can go 1975 Windies, 1979 Windies, 1983 India, 1987 Australia, 1992 Pakistan 1996 Sri Lanka 1999 Australia 2003 Australia 2007 Australia 2011 India 2015 Australia 2019 Tie 2023 Australia without literally stopping to think.

I can name moments like Aravinda's knock in 96 and Kalu/Jayasuriya's blitz, Gatting's reverse sweep in 87, SA's 23 off one ball in the 92 semi, the debacle in the dark in 07 final, Gilly's squash ball...honestly I could go on.

I've said this way too much recently but if you don't have that in sport, that nostalgia, the context, the history, the stats...your game is built on a foundation of thin sand.

 

[social]

50 over cricket still brings in a lot of money for the big three.

There will still be World Cups but maybe downsized to 8 teams in future.

Next WC involves 14 teams and agreements have just been reached for another one in India in 2031