Adam Zampa excited ahead of milestone ODI in Nottingham as Australia face England in the first of 5 ODI matches.
Although Adam Zampa acknowledges that the future of the ODI format is questionable, he thinks that young players still view it as a priority despite the busy schedule and growing popularity of franchise cricket.
As Australia’s most valuable white-ball bowler, Zampa will play his 100th ODI in the opening match against England at Trent Bridge on Thursday. He restated that he will always value international cricket over franchise T20, and while he did not place a firm end to his career, he did state that he intends to win “many more” World Cups.
In terms of which men’s World Cup title was considered the more significant, a study conducted earlier this year by the World Cricketers Association (formerly FICA) revealed that the difference was narrowing, with only 50% of respondents choosing the ODI version and 35% selecting the T20 edition.
“There’s been a lot of questions about the ODI format and what that looks [like] going forward,” he said. “In terms of playing for Australia and that drive, I think every young guy coming through still thinks that’s the be-all and end-all.”
“There’s obviously those other opportunities in terms of franchise cricket and that’s good,” Zampa said. “There’s been a lot said about how it’s a saturated market but all these different competitions give other guys opportunities, whether it’s guys who have just played a little bit of BBL or a bit of Blast, there’s opportunities to go and improve yourself at different franchise levels, even if they are going on at the same time which seems to be the case at the moment.
“But feels like playing for your country is still the priority. I agree with you, don’t know what it’s going to look like in the next few years, particularly with this format, but I feel like ODI cricket’s still a really good format, I still enjoy playing it and think a lot of young guys coming through still see it as a good opportunity to play for your country.”