Are we living in the last age of ODI Cricket as MCG holds a poor attendance?

Chris Woakes in 3rd ODI vs AUS at MCG

The Australia-England ODIs were a lopsided affair, where the hosts thumped the World Champions dreadfully with a scoreline of 3-0. But there was one thing more miserable than England's performance. And that was the crowd count.

As per this series' official radio broadcaster SEN Cricket, the final count of the crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was 10,406. Meanwhile, the total attendance for the series was 42,827.

There has been a long-running debate over what the future holds for One-Day Internationals as it has been holding more-of boring clashes where audiences lose interest more usually than not.

MCG, which is one of the most iconic cricket stadiums and one prime audience-puller, averagely holds 17,993 people in November during an ODI contest. Although, the number goes up to 40,000 when an ODI is played in December, January and February.

How long can the ODIs last?

As per a survey conducted by CricBlog, around 33.6 per cent of people believe that ODIs would die within 10 to 15 years. Whereas, more than 50 per cent are prepared to sacrifice ODIs if asked to stop watching one format.

One reason behind crowds not turning up can be the scheduling as the Australian fans were just treated with the T20 World Cup. 

Kohli after his iconic 82* vs PAK in T20 WC 22

They were already treated to one of the most iconic T20I thrillers - i.e. the INDO-PAK clash, the one where Netherlands thrashed South Africa or the two-time winners West Indies getting knocked out even before the Super12s.

The crowds came and enjoyed the fast-running T20 sport, but attendance has been dropping constantly in the 50-over over. And that's where the international and national governing bodies have to keep a check on. The ODI Super League is a measure taken by the ICC but is that enough? Only time can tell.

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