Australia captain Ricky Ponting has defended the 50-over format ahead of his side's first one-day international against Pakistan.
Aussie skipper goes into bat for ODIs
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has defended the 50-over format ahead of his side's first one-day international against Pakistan.
Despite the recent domestic success of the Twenty20 game, Ponting insists the ODI still has a role to play in international cricket, but acknowledged the level of interest the Australian public have for the format will become apparent during the forthcoming encounters against Pakistan and West Indies.
"As players we certainly don't see (a demise in the one-day game). We certainly see that there is a place in international cricket for all three forms of the game and I think they can all survive very, very, well," said Ponting.
"I haven't felt as a player that there has been a drop-off in the way the 50-over game is being received whatsoever. We'll get a bit more of an understanding over the next 10 games in Australia as to how the 50-over game is being received.
"I really think there is a place for all three forms of the game. There is no doubt that with more exposure the Twenty20 game is getting into lots of different countries at different times.
"I think it will be hard to judge on how the overall (50-over) game is going, but I think we'll all get a good understanding of how much people want to come and watch it in Australia."
Engaging
Ponting believes his side played particularly engaging cricket in their one-day triumph in the Champions Trophy in South Africa as well as the series win against India.
"If you look back to last few 50-over series that we've played - the Champions Trophy in South Africa was terrific for us, the one-day games in England were great and the one-day win in India was terrific as well," he said.
"We actually played a lot of great games. The amount of messages I was getting from home talking about just how good the 50-over contests were, was satisfying for me as a player especially when there has been a lot of talk around about maybe the demise of 50-over cricket."
"As a playing group we'll put on the best show that we can over the next couple of weeks and hope that the crowds around Australia really enjoy what we are doing."
Ponting revealed the Aussies are targeting a clean sweep of the five-match series with Pakistan but believes his side have more to fear from the tourists' one-day squad than their Test team.
Dangerous
"If you read through their side, it looks like a better team on paper than what their Test team does," said Ponting.
"We know Pakistan are a dangerous one-day team and at different times I'm sure they will be very good through this series. We just have to make sure we don't let their match-winning players have too much of an effect on the series.
"We've dominated some one-day tournaments that we have played as of late and I've got no doubt that if we play at our capability throughout this five-game series against Pakistan then I'm sure we can win the series and win it well."
