The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have stirred a new controversy asking for the ICC to look at the 50 over game as a dying sport while incorporating 40 over matches into its schedule.
The ECB has decided to persist with its Pro40 domestic tournament but scrap the 50 over event altogether beginning with the 2010 season.
It has upset cricketers such as Paul Collingwood but ex-cricketers including many of the Indian players as well as former Pakistan captain, Zaheer Abbas, are worried that the game may be reacting too early and Twenty20 may be the reason behind it.
But many fear that Twenty20 may be only a passing phase and with the over explosion of Twenty20 leagues like IPL which have become more commercial to be really concerned about preserving the long term version of the game and its longer versions, people may eventually fall back on the old versions that may be prematurely bumped off.
In the meantime, South Africa, on whom the England is basing its argument about not losing out on the competitive international nature, is planning to do away altogether with its 45 overs game.
Will ICC Champions Trophy or the 2011 World Cup be signalling the beginning of the end? Or will the game find a way to survive with all its latest fads and fancies?
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