Champion Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa is confident the one-day format will remain relevant despite the explosion in domestic T20 domestic competitions around the world as he prepares for a milestone match on Thursday in England.
The 32-year-old is coming off a successful summer in The Hundred in England with The Oval Invincibles and is a superstar in short-form form cricket domestically and internationally.
The abundance of T20 cricket being played and the shorter-time frame has raised concerns about the long-term future of ODIs and Zampa acknowledges he is not sure what the landscape will look like for the longer white-ball game in the future.
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The dual-World Cup winner, who is Australia’s leading wicket taker in T20 cricket, has represented more than a dozen different franchises, across a spread of eight countries, in the shortest form of the game outside his international and state duties.
But a key member of Australia’s stunning triumph in the ODI World Cup in India last year, Zampa said nothing matches the thrill of representing his nation in international fixtures such as the five-match ODI series against England beginning Thursday.
“There have been a lot of questions about the ODI format and what that looks like going forward,” he said.
“But in terms of playing for Australia and that drive, I think every young guy coming through still thinks that is the be all and end all. There are obviously those other opportunities in terms of franchise cricket and that is good.
“There’s been a lot said about how it’s a saturated market, but all these different competitions give other guys opportunities, whether it’s guys who have just played a little bit of BBL or a bit of Blast, or whatever, there’s opportunities to go and improve yourself at different franchise levels, even if they are going on at the same time, which seems to be the case at the moment.
“But it feels like playing for your country is still the priority. I agree that … I don’t know what it’s going to look like in the next few years, particularly with this format, but I feel like ODI cricket’s still a really good format. I still enjoy playing it and I think a lot of young guys coming through still see it as a good opportunity to play for your country.”
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Zampa will join Shane Warne and Brad Hogg as Australian spinners to have played 100 ODI when the five-match ODI series begins at Trent Bridge on Thursday night AEST.
His extended family is in England for the milestone, with the New South Welshman saying he “never thought he’d play this much for Australia”.
He has taken 169 wickets in 99 ODI matches for Australia at an average of 28.05 and an economy rate of 5.47. In T20s, he has taken 11 wickets in 92 matches at an average of 21.77, with his economy rate in the shorter form 7.24.
The leg-spinner identified a key reason why the one-day format will continue to hold sway for cricketers when saying he is keen to continue on for as long as he is able to succeed at international level.
“The feeling of playing for your country and winning for your country beats franchise cricket and winning in franchise cricket,” he said.
“I experienced The Hundred. It was great. I loved playing in it and winning at the end is a bonus, but it hits different when you play for your country and win World Cups and I still have that drive to win many more.
“While I’m enjoying playing for Australia, I feel like I’m bowling good enough and want to improve. I’ll just continue to roll through. I really love playing for this group, under this coaching staff. While I’m enjoying it, there’s no reason to think about an end date.”
Zampa toured England during the pandemic but said that experience pales in comparison to the current trip abroad.
After sweeping Scotland 3-0 in a T20 series in Edinburgh, Australia and England squared a similar length series in the shortest format, with rain washing out the decider in Manchester.
He is looking forward to the next five matches, with Australia expected to tinker with its squad and offer a number of opportunities to players.
“We’ve got a fairly new, young crew that you saw in the T20s (with) a couple of older faces back (and there’s) another opportunity in the next five games to go home with a trophy,” he said.
“This is my first proper tour of England where you are going from a stadium, travelling on the bus or the train and then playing the next day, so it is going to be a bit of a grind the next 10 days. It is going to be tough for the body and the mind, but that is good.”
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