Legendary Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has raised a big concern over the future of international cricket as franchise leagues continue to grow across the world. Matthew Hayden believes that the game of cricket is entering a new phase, where club and franchise cricket is becoming more powerful, creating fresh challenges for international formats.
Hayden feels the biggest danger is currently on the One-Day International (ODI) cricket. While Test cricket and T20I games continue to attract strong attention, he believes that the ODI format is in a tough spot and needs urgent planning from the top global officials.
Matthew Hayden said world cricket is changing at a rapid pace, and franchise-based competitions are becoming a major part of the cricket calendar. He admitted that this change was always on the cards, as many other sports around the world have already moved towards club-based competitions.
The legendary batter feels cricket is now following the same path, but it has created a fresh challenge for international cricket. Hayden has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to protect international cricket while also managing the rapid growth of franchise tournaments.
Hayden feels the ICC needs to work closely with all cricket boards and find a long-term solution that keeps every format of the game alive, especially the ODI format. Amid this, Jay Shah's ICC unveils road to LA 2028 Olympics, India first team to qualify.
Matthew Hayden was quoted as saying by PTI Video, "We have an international body called the ICC that has big questions to answer. They have questions to their stakeholders, who are all their affiliate nations and also their primary test-playing nations, to come up with a program that inevitably tackles this exact issue.”
Matthew Hayden raises serious questions over the future of ODI and Bilateral cricket
The Aussie legend reiterated that ODI cricket faces an uncertain future as players continue to be attracted to the franchise tournaments. Hayden also said bilateral cricket has been struggling for the last few years, saying not every international series creates the same excitement anymore.
He noted that only a few major tours, like India touring Australia, Australia playing England, or South Africa, continue to attract massive global attention. Hayden also admitted that the ICC World Test Championship has also reignited interest among the fans for Test cricket.
Hayden further noted, “I guess in many ways, ODI cricket is perhaps the format that has multiple question marks around it. Or do we tackle the bilateral conversation, and how has that been, in my opinion, quite dysfunctional now for a number of years?"
Matthew Hayden urges ICC to protect smaller cricket nations and ODI cricket
Meanwhile, Hayden has also pointed out that teams like the West Indies, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are not in a good position despite being important parts of world cricket. He feels many of them are feeling left behind as bigger nations like India, Australia, and England continue to dominate the schedule.
At the same time, Hayden made it clear that he is not against franchise cricket, and he is proud that these leagues are helping the game grow by taking cricket to new places and inspiring more boys and girls to pick up a bat and ball instead of choosing sports like football or rugby.
VIDEO | One-day cricket is the format facing the biggest existential questions in an increasingly franchise-driven landscape, legendary Australia opener Matthew Hayden said, while asserting that the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) is designed to be a developmental competition… pic.twitter.com/5atnnIMxZ0
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 4, 2026However, Hayden feels the game cannot focus only on franchise cricket, as he urged the ICC and cricket boards to sit together and find the right balance between international cricket and franchise leagues to protect the future of ODI cricket and other formats.
He signed off by saying, “So, you know, we need to be noisy crickets. We are a sport that doesn't want to disappear into the nether or abyss of other global competitions. But we do need to have some serious conversations around the pathway programs of the game.”
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