For me, the One Day International in danger of occupying shaky middle ground as a viewing event.

The Twenty20 game is gaining momentum in global presence and credibility as an established entrée into a touring season. Most of the Twenty20 games I have seen televised over the last year or so are being played in front of sell out crowds, drawn no doubt to the genuine Gung Ho approach that a 40 over contest demands.

At the other end of the spectrum is the sacred test match, offering everything that the shorter game doesn’t and often infinitely more.

As the Twenty20 format continues to become adopted domestically and internationally the ODI could end up sandwiched in the middle of these two extremes and it could well be a precarious long term position. Offering neither the potential of a classic elongated contest nor a quick blast of coke to send our viewing nostrils into spasm it seems slightly lost for an identity.

The Powerplays and Supersubs are a failure in adding any excitement to the ODI (if that was their intent) as aside from their obvious contrived introduction, they still don’t change the fact that for 70 or 80 of the 100 overs available in an ODI we are by and large watching boring cricket. We expect uneventful passages of play in a test, (recent Ashes aside) but expect more from a shortened contest. We can now get our can of condensed action from the Twenty20, which makes me wonder how long the current format ODI has to run.