Cricket Australia set to change player travel schedule after ODI series belting as fans told to get used to 'junk format'

Aprominant cricket writer says cricket fans need to get used to the low-quality of international white-ball cricket, except heading into World Cups.

The ODI series between Australia and Pakistan, which the tourists won 2-1, had big names such as Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc that were either missing the series entirely or only being partly available, with the Aussies focussed on the Border-Gavaskar series against India.

Peter Lalor says the limited-overs format of the game will suffer the most, and told supporters that they should be okay with that.

“It’s a junk format at the moment unless the World Cup is on,” Lalor told SEN Whateley.

“One Day cricket and T20 cricket is a junk format.

“I like the idea of replenishing the team if you’re looking at World Cup cycles, of putting these younger players in.

“There were only three members of the World Cup side winning side that played in that last match.

“Let’s not forget, this is a five-Test series against India, I want them to do everything to get Pat Cummins through those five Tests.”

Lalor also pointed to a lack of a marketing push behind the series from Cricket Australia, and the fact that there is a three-game T20I series against Pakistan beginning on Thursday in Brisbane.

He reminded listeners that Cameron Green is set for a long period out of the game after injuring himself in a One Day series.

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins of Australia celebrate victory. (Photo by Morgan Hancock – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

“I’m not saying that he shouldn’t have played those games, he should have, but the first line of debate was, ‘What’s he doing playing a stupid One Day series anyway?’,” he said.

“One Day cricket has really suffered and is really suffering.

“But, you know, if any form of the game has to suffer, it has to be the white-ball game.

“The bottom line on this is that if the guiding principle is that Test match cricket matters more than anything else, I’m really comfortable with that.

It comes as Cricket Australia will consider tailoring the international summer to be more travel-friendly for players after a raft of Test stars rested for the historic ODI series loss against Pakistan.

After winning the first match at the MCG, the 50-over team were then smashed in Adelaide and Perth as Pakistan won their first series in Australia since 2002.

Australia’s top players would have been more likely to have featured if the third match had been in Sydney or Brisbane, or even Melbourne.

The first Test begins in Perth on November 22, so Australia’s high-performance staff decided two trips to Western Australia in a week would have been too much.

India are booked to travel to Australia again next summer, for white-ball matches that don’t yet have dates or venues, but they will take place before the 2025-26 Ashes.

“What this schedule has really shone a spotlight on is the travel schedule into such a big series is critical,” CA boss Nick Hockley said on Tuesday.

Marnus Labuschagne bats at Melbourne Cricket Ground. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

“This is about thinking ahead and getting players through in the best possible condition.

“As we look to the schedule for next year … we’ll make sure that the travel schedule is optimised so we can continue to put our best possible 11 on the field.”

World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke blasted the selections during the series, claiming Australia “didn’t care about losing”.

At the same time Australia were losing badly in Perth, Cummins was attending a Coldplay concert on Sunday night with wife Becky.

“You can’t expect the fans to want to come and watch one-day cricket,” Clarke said on his Big Sports Breakfast radio show on Monday.

“If you’re not going to care, we’re not going to care.”

International white-ball matches outside of World Cups has been in steady decline due to the sheer amount of cricket in the calendar.

“I feel what’s really important is each of the series have context and meaning,” Hockley said.

“Certainly a big advocate going forward for all series to make sure they count for qualification for world cups.

“We’ve made our position very clear on that to the ICC.

“This was a critical series in preparation for the Champions Trophy coming up, which is now three months away.

“A really disappointing result, and I know that the squad’s very motivated to make amends during the T20 series.

“We go out to win every game and every series.”