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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

ICC chiefs hit back at schedule concerns after Ben Stokes' ODI retirement

The International Cricket Council have played down concerns over the busy cricket schedule, with chairman Greg Barclay insisting it has not yet reached a "tipping point".

Barclay and chief executive Geoff Allardice addressed the issue after England star Ben Stokes announced his retirement from ODI cricket, labelling the current schedule "unsustainable".

His decision has prompted much criticism of the schedule, with Jos Buttler stating Stokes' retirement should be a "wake-up call" to the game's authorities and Australia 's Usman Khawaja warning that ODI cricket is "dying a slow death".

South Africa also recently pulled out of an ODI series against Australia in order to focus on the launch of their new T20 franchise competition, putting qualification for next year's World Cup at risk.

However, Allardice believes the future of ODI cricket is not under threat. "I think at this stage there is some discussion, not specifically about ODIs, but about the mix of formats within the calendar," he said.

"Countries have been, in their FTPs, are still scheduling a healthy number of ODIs as well. So in the FTP, I don't think you'll see any significant change to the number of ODIs or the proportion of ODIs as being planned."

ICC chairman Greg Barclay (Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

Allardice did admit that the rise of T20 franchise leagues does pose some problems, but insisted each member remains fully committed to international cricket.

"Each of them has to manage that balance between domestic competitions, their international schedule and the management of their players," he added. "Each of those boards is in a slightly different situation.

"So there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to that balancing issue." Barclay, meanwhile, added: "There's a lot of pressure on the calendar, but I'm not sure it's a tipping point."

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