Test Cricket vs ODIs: Which Format Has More Appeal?

Orlando Farrell | 12:45am GMT 11 December 2022

With England slumping to a record defeat in the third game of a 0-3 loss in a One Day International (ODI) series against Australia, critics have been wondering how this format compares to test cricket. This defeat came after England recently won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, so which type of cricket is more important?

The Key Differences

There are some visual differences between these games, with differently coloured kits and balls used. However, the most important difference is that test match cricket is played over as much as five days, with each day broken into sessions. On the other hand, ODIs see both teams face just 50 overs in a single day. T20 Cricket is similar to ODIs but is limited to only 20 overs.

Test cricket is the longest-established format, with the first examples coming in games between Australia and England in the 1870s. Only 12 ICC member countries have Test cricket status and can play these games. The same countries are authorised to play ODIs, but special permission is sometimes given to add other countries to the list, meaning it’s not quite as exclusive as test cricket.

Most People Still Prefer Tests

The record defeat for England against Australia was blasted by some critics and ex-players, who called it meaningless cricket. Low crowd attendances and an English team that seemed low on energy after their World Cup heroics helped to add to the feeling that these games weren’t particularly important.

However, vice-captain Moeen Ali put the heavy defeats down to poor scheduling rather than the England team treating these games any differently. What type of cricket do fans prefer? A Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) survey in 2019 revealed that 86% of global cricket fans prefer to watch test matches, however, there are some people who believe that it should be modernised.

Streaming cricket is one of the ways that this game has become more easily available to more fans. This sports streaming research puts cricket among the country’s most popular sports for streaming searches. With 12% of the market, it’s behind the likes of football, rugby and golf but it isn’t clear how many people search for each of the different formats.

What Do the Players Prefer?

England’s ODI captain in the recent series, Jos Buttler, spoke about how to keep the different kinds of cricket relevant, and the importance of avoiding overlapping series. He believes that young players want to play in all the different ways, but that the authorities need to work out how to make the scheduling better, while England Test captain Ben Stokes decided to retire from ODIs this summer, complaining about the heavy scheduling issues.

In general, players agree that test cricket is more important, with Australia’s Mitchell Starc suggesting that he’s ready to retire from ODIs to focus on test cricket, which he described as being “far above” the shorter version of the game. Yet, Will Smeed shocked the cricket world by signing a deal with Somerset that will see him play only the shorter versions of cricket that’s played with white balls, effectively ending his test career at just 21.

Everyone will continue to have their own opinion on which type of cricket is their favourite, but the big challenge for authorities is to help those players who want to play in both formats to manage their schedules more effectively.