FORMER West Indies and Jamaica spinner Nikita Miller and cricket journalist Machel St Patrick Hewitt have concerns around the view that One-Day Internationals (ODIs) should only be played at World Cups, in light of the increased popularity of the Twenty20 (T20) format.

Earlier this month, former English cricketer and broadcaster Mark Nicholas became president of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which is responsible for writing and interpreting the laws of cricket. The 66-year-old told ESPNcricinfo: “We believe strongly that ODIs should be World Cups only; we think it’s difficult bilaterally now to justify them. They’re not filling grounds in a lot of countries, and there is a power at the moment to T20 cricket that is almost supernatural.”

He added that 50-over cricket does little for the income of the sport.

“It’s more than just ticket sales. It’s the amount of people that want to own franchises, the amount of countries that want to run tournaments, it’s the amount of players that want to be in a market all around the world. In a free market, the most money wins — and that’s just the endgame. The players can see that bubbling away and they want to be a part of it, so it is an extraordinary power that T20 has — and I think scheduling 50-over cricket alongside it just continues the story of the death knell of the ODI game.”

However Miller, who played 50 ODI matches for the West Indies including at the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, told the Observer it would harm player development.

“In T20 you have one pace, so to develop somebody’s game in T20 cricket is very difficult — whether you’re a bowler or a batsman — whereas in the 50-over game you have more time to build, play proper cricket strokes, be aggressive,” said Miller.

“If you look at the history of T20 cricket, most of the guys who dominated are guys who have an established career in ODI and test cricket. The guys who play T20 cricket alone are not consistent performers who constantly score runs or take wickets.”

The 41-year-old, who took 45 wickets in ODI cricket, thinks a slightly shortened version could be beneficial.

“At one point ODIs used to be 60 overs, so keep reducing. If it’s a situation where you can play a 40-over game just to make it exciting [then do that], but I don’t think we should totally get rid of it and only play it at World Cups.”

Miller also believes that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should follow Fifa’s model with football. “Shift it in such a way that it mirrors football where a lot of different leagues play right around the year and then you’ll have international breaks, so you’ll still have the opportunity to play ODI cricket. It will help countries like the West Indies who sometimes struggle to keep their players for the international game because the franchises around the world take them. So, you’ll have the opportunity to have the players to play because the ICC creates a window to play franchise cricket and international.”

Hewitt, who hosts Caribbean Cricket Podcast, says he understands Nicholas’s comments regarding the calendar not favouring the 50-over version.

“It’s feasible that by the next future tours programme, which is 2027-2031, ODIs may well be reduced in both their number and their importance. The calendar simply will be overtaken by an even further elongated Indian Premier League and the leagues that remain after the IPL, so it means that there will be little to no space for meaningful ODIs to take place.”

However, he does question how important a 50-over World Cup would be without playing the format regularly.

“How do you determine qualifiers? How do teams prepare for it? T20 cricket does not prepare you for 50-over cricket, and similarly, you could argue Test cricket doesn’t really prepare you for 50-over cricket. So there is a level of naivety in his comments to suggest that you could play a format like 50-over just at a World Cup with no real preparation going into the tournament. That in itself seems like its devaluing the tournament.”

Following the completion of the ongoing World Cup in India the West Indies are to host England in three ODIs, starting on December 3.