UP to quite recently, the idea of giving cricket even a moderate tweak to ignite spectator interest would have been considered sacrilegious and an outright shame by the purists.

But the winds of change have blown decisively in the game’s direction — the result being the existence of two limited-over versions of cricket, which sparks its own debate even while the ICC World Twenty/20 Cup is in progress here in the region.

With attendance and corporate sponsorship signifying that the shorter versions of the sport have usurped Test matches both in allure and financial returns, cricket has undoubtedly been forever revolutionised, with the consensus being that it is long overdue after languishing behind other competing sports worldwide.

But while the world governing body can be credited for responding to the tides of change and appeasing fans with a few more appealing formats, the 50-over, or One-Day International version, as we have come to know it over the years, seems to be lumbering towards an inadvertent marginalisation, which could subsequently pose a dilemma for the ICC.

For, while it is accepted that Test cricket is the marquee version of the game — despite waning interest among the younger generation — and will decorate the landscape of the sport for the foreseeable future, an increasing number of clubs and countries are opting for T20, and not 50-over matches.

Additionally, since ICC associate countries like Canada, Kenya, Ireland and the Netherlands all strive to attain Test status, this is clearly indicative of the prestige that is accorded this revered version, which so many regard as the authentic symbol of the international game anyway.

Interestingly, even as the sports-loving Australians report a fall-off in Test match attendance and profits, and while perhaps only England and India are enjoying any measure of satisfaction in this regard, the notion of the sport being bereft of Test matches will not for a moment be entertained by the overseers of the game, who are prepared to use the profitability of the T20 to offset the losses incurred from the latter.

The 50-Over game is still quite popular across the globe, but close scrutiny will reveal waning interest in the wake of the T20, which likewise provides quick results, attacking stroke-play, aggressive bowling and on-the-field urgency — and in a much shorter time span as well.

So with tradition poised to sustain Test matches, and with the T20 version taking the world by storm with its non-stop interest and excitement, the ICC could again find itself having to redefine or ‘sell’ the One-Day International to its stakeholders — as it had to do back in the 1970s — as the truth is that with the presence of the T20, it is fast becoming irrelevant.

Of course, the logical solution is to completely forego the 50-over format in light of an already packed international schedule. With the ICC’s Futures Tour programme already mandating the playing of a certain number of Test matches per year, thus ensuring a rigid schedule, this would offer a measure of control in offering players and fans two distinctively contrasting versions of the game.

Again, tournaments like the biennial ICC Trophy, which is regarded as a mini 50-50 World Cup, could also replace the full-fledged event that has been in existence since 1975, but which would unfortunately exclude the minnows of the sport due to sheer logistics of time and convenience, but would at least ensure the survival of the traditional ODI.

The truth is that the ICC, like many other sporting bodies, has to continuously find inventive ways of making the sport more appealing to an international audience that is fed a constant diet of sports that produce instantaneous results.

Despite the uniqueness of five-day Test matches, cricket’s real adaptation of a global paradigm is manifested via the shorter version of the game, which could subsequently be the T20 that has likewise been criticised by traditionalists who regard the unorthodoxy of stroke-play as ‘butchering’ the game.

However, many will argue that the objective of cricket is scoring runs, and that flair or textbook play are social constructs aimed at massaging archaic aesthetics that have little relevance in the modern game.