England’s all-rounder Moen Ali expects more players to drop out of certain formats due to the tight schedule.
Test captain Ben Stokes withdrew from the one-day international in July, while he and England teammate Jonny Ballstow opted to miss the 100s.
“At the moment it’s not sustainable,” said Moeen, who retired from Test cricket last year.
Moeen, 35, fears over-50 cricket could disappear amid the growing dominance of the Twenty20.
speaking after his Birmingham Phoenix lost to trent rockets Speaking on The Hundred on Saturday, he said: “Something has to be done because I’m afraid of losing 50-over form in a few years because it’s almost like long, boring form. It doesn’t really matter at the moment.
“International cricket in all three formats is by far the best game of cricket, but I do worry that there are so many games out there that more players are retiring now – and you’ll see soon More players retire – because of overlapping schedules.”
The calendar has become more crowded in recent years due to an increase in global events and more T20 franchise competitions around the world, as well as The Hundred in England and Wales.
The 50-plus One-Day Cup is currently being played by counties that lack several players involved in The Hundred.
Indian bowler Ravichandran Ashwin recently questioned the long-term survival of the Over-50 game, saying he Stop watching 50+ games on television.
Announcing the retirement of his ODI, Stokes, 31, said: “There’s so much cricket right now that people can’t play all three formats at the same time.”
Claire Connor, chief executive of the England and Wales Interim Cricket Board, told BBC Sport this week that Stokes’ message had been “Absolutely” was heard.
“It’s something we have to work on – it’s our work with the players, other committees, the International Cricket Council and the Professional Cricket Association,” she said.
