Hussain: White-ball contracts are "a worry for the game"

While he said he could understand why Adil Rashid and Alex Hales have chosen to go down the path of limited-overs cricket, the former England captain is still worried about what precedent the pair could be setting

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Nasser Hussain is concerned by the prospect of more and more top players signing white-ball only contracts at younger and younger ages.

Following the decisions by Adil Rashid and Alex Hales to step away from red-ball cricket in 2018 and focus on their efforts in the 50-over and T20 arenas, Hussain voiced his misgivings about how players still very much in their prime and with many years of their careers remaining see the longest form of the game as non-essential to their future.

While he said he could understand why Rashid and Hales have chosen to go down the path of limited-overs cricket, the former England captain is still worried about what precedent the pair could be setting.

“It reflects the changing face of international cricket at the moment. All of these franchises and domestic teams we have, they’re just making business decisions," he told Sky Sports.

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Adil Rashid has signed a white-ball Yorkshire contract

“They’re doing the maths – what can I get in a year and they’ve said by giving up red-ball cricket in England they can probably make more money travelling the world playing white-ball cricket.

“It’s a worry for the game, definitely, especially now it seems to be getting younger and younger.

“A few years ago, the likes of (Brendon) McCullum and (Kevin) Pietersen were retiring into an IPL sunset and taking the cash and you couldn’t blame them – it was like a little gold pot at the end of their career.

“Then it got a little bit younger and there were worries about AB de Villiers and some superstars of the game, just drifting away. But now it’s getting even younger – Rashid is 30, Hales is 29.

“The other option would have been to stay, try to fight and get your Test match place back. First-class cricket – in particular in England – should be worried and concerned.”

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Alex Hales has signed a white-ball deal at Nottinghamshire

Hussain defended T20 internationals in the wake of England coach Trevor Bayliss's suggestion that they should be scrapped outside World Cup years, saying that the format is "what the punters want".

However, as a staunch advocate of Test cricket he is keen to see the sport's governing bodies make sure every form of the game is protected for the future.

“Everyone’s talking about T20 cricket, simply because given the option of do you want to work half the time, get paid double the money, go round the world playing cricket, see your family quite a bit more and it seems to be more fun," he said.

“This is what youngsters and the future looks like I’m afraid and I urge the ICC and ECB to keep an eye on first-class cricket, to keep an eye more importantly on Test match cricket.”

Comments

Posted by Brian Hopkinson on 02/05/2018 at 12:09

Little by Little the Red Ball game seems to be eroded. I really fear for the County Championship which has already been shunted into the ridings. Since Andrew Strauss came in it has all been about promoting White Ball Cricket totally at the expense of our beautiful game which I find hard to forgive. Now we are having this 100 no sense coming in to appeal to people with the attention span of a knat God help us.

Posted by Leslie Bone on 27/02/2018 at 12:46

My view is strengthened that Test cricket outside of England is on a downward spiral. In fact you can extend this to the County Cricket 4 day game as well. It will gradually disappear. The authorities running cricket are not concerned about this.

Posted by Dave Baker on 22/02/2018 at 21:16

I agree with Nasser. However all the indications are that whilst they may try, it will be too little too late. Business and money will move faster than the ECB and the ICC. The last x5 years have proved that, and almost certainly the next 5 years will see continuing divergence of the x3 formats and much greater emphasis on one day cricket.

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