Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has issued a stark warning about the future of cricket, claiming the rise of franchise tournaments around the world and the busy international schedule means players will "break away from international cricket completely".
Ben Stokes recently announced his retirement from ODI cricket, labelling England's schedule "unsustainable". Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders chief executive Venky Mysore has revealed the group, which also owns three other T20 franchises around the world, wants to sign top players to 12-month contracts.
And Pietersen believes many players would go down that route as they are "being worked into the ground at the moment" and that by 2025 "only the major nations will ever play Test cricket". In his latest column for Betway, Pietersen said: "That would be a game-changer.
"You could see players break away from international cricket completely in order to earn much more money to play in two or three events during the year. The top players are being worked into the ground at the moment.
"If an opportunity comes along that offers them long-term security they'll take it. It's human nature.
"Unfortunately that means that the traditional cricketing structure, with Test matches as the pinnacle, is under threat. I've said previously that I think by 2025, only the major nations will ever play Test cricket.
"I know they hate me saying it, but any Test series involving New Zealand or West Indies or any other nation outside the very biggest could fall by the wayside. I can see a scenario where by 2025 the only Test cricket is the Ashes, England v India, Australia v India, India v Pakistan and other landmark series, unless they start paying Test match cricketers crazy money.
"I've written about how the ECB can save the England team before, but not every nation will be able to afford it. Bilateral white-ball series are in trouble, too.
"It feels like nobody has really noticed England's games against India and South Africa this summer, and the Proteas have pulled out of a tour to Australia next year to prioritise their new T20 competition.
"It makes me very sad because internationals, particularly Tests, are still the purest form of the game. But we have to accept that as time goes on, the power of franchise cricket is going to turn more and more heads."
