Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali believes ‘terrible’ rule changes have effectively ‘killed’ ODI cricket.
Moeen, who played 138 one-day internationals for England and over 250 List-A games for his county, described 50-over cricket as the ‘worst format to play’.
The 37-year-old says rule changes in recent years have made ODI cricket too batter-friendly and reckons the format has lost all relevance outside of major tournaments like the Champions Trophy, recently won by India, and World Cup, a competition he won back in 2019.
Moeen struggles to understand the reason two balls are now used in ODI cricket – one from either end – and says the introduction of an extra fielder inside the ring after the powerplay is another ‘horrendous’ rule.
‘The format has almost completely died out, apart from World Cups and Champions Trophy,’ Moeen told talkSPORT. ‘It is the worst format to play and I think there are many reasons for that.
‘I think the rules are terrible. To have that extra fielder in after [the first powerplay], I think it’s a horrendous rule for taking wickets, building any sort of pressure.
‘Guys are averaging 60, 70 in ODI cricket now because of that. When you’re bowling at somebody and you put a little bit of pressure, he just reverse-sweeps and it’s not even a single, it’s a four.
‘It’s just there’s always that option available for the batters [to score]. On top of all this, you have two new balls, you lose the reverse swing, you lose the art of trying to hit a softer ball.
‘Everything’s always in the middle and crisp and it’s flying off your bat and stuff. I think for those reasons, the cricket’s just died. 50-over cricket has died.’
Moeen also said the expansion of T20 franchise cricket around the world is harming not only ODI cricket but potentially Test cricket too, with several players walking away from the international game to cash in on the global circuit.
‘I think franchise cricket is sadly eating it all up and the problem is the money that’s out there and the money that’s being thrown out there,’ he added.
‘It’s so much that people just can’t turn it down. It’s very difficult. There are probably guys who are probably going to retire in the next couple of years from international cricket earlier to play franchise cricket.’
Moeen retired from England duty last summer but continues to feature in T20 tournaments around the world.
He was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2025 Indian Premier League, which takes place between March 22 and May 25.
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