Allan Border calls for an end to bilateral T20 series at international level

Allan Border

1987 World Cup winning Australian captain Allan Border has called for an end to bilateral T20 Internationals between countries and hoped that the 50-over format will not “wither and die”. The 59-year-old believes that T20s at the international level should be limited to the 20-over World Cup, which is held once in 2 years.

Australia, recently, played a three-match T20 series against South Africa, winning it 2-1. The two teams are now set to face off in a 5-match ODI series, following which the Aussies will play India in a four-match Test series and then a triangular tournament involving India and England, a month before the 50-over World Cup next February.

Overdose of T20s

"I wouldn't be playing T20 international cricket at all, I would save that for a World Cup every two years." Border said.

"I think there is enough domestic Twenty20 cricket to fill the programme out quite nicely ... there's Twenty20 competitions in basically every country. Why we have to play international Twenty20 cricket as well as that?" he added, in an interview to ABC Radio.

Would hate to see the decline of 50-over cricket

Border, whose record for the most number of Test runs was eclipsed by Brian Lara in 2005, also said that he would hate to see the decline of 50-over cricket and T20s gain more importance in the International game.

"I'd hate to see the 50-over game wither and die, I really think it's a wonderful game of cricket and I think the World Cup coming up in Australia and New Zealand will be an absolute ripper," he said.

"I think that would be a shame, I think the 50-over game is a superior game to 20-over cricket. I prefer the 50-over game as far as the ebb and flow, the bowler is in the contest a little more, and you can have little periods where you bat or bowl yourself out of the game and then bat or bowl yourself back into the game. That's very difficult to do in 20-over cricket," Border added.