Playing for your country beats franchise cricket, says Australia’s Zampa

MELBOURNE : Rising numbers of cricketers are spurning the international game to focus on lucrative franchise deals across the globe but Adam Zampa’s heart remains set on winning more matches for Australia.
The spinner will play his 100th ODI against England at Trent Bridge on Thursday in a series criticised by pundits for lacking context and having nothing really at stake.
Declining interest in the 50-over game means Zampa will more than likely finish his career well short of Ricky Ponting’s Australian record total of 374 ODIs.
But it won’t be for a lack of trying for the 32-year-old who loves to pull on the green-and-gold Australian kit and still sees a future for the format.
“There’s obviously those other opportunities in terms of franchise cricket and that’s good,” Zampa told reporters.
“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 it feels like playing for your country is still the priority.
“I … 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.”
With 169 wickets, Zampa is the second highest wicket-taker among Australian spin bowlers in ODIs, behind only the great Shane Warne who took 291 from 193 matches.
He has become arguably Australia’s most important player in white-ball cricket, having been the team’s leading wicket-taker at last year’s 50-over World Cup in India and during their run to the T20 World Cup title in 2021.
He warmed up for the ODI series against England by helping the Oval Invincibles win The Hundred, a franchise league played in England and Wales, for the second year in a row.
“It was great, I loved playing it, and winning at the end is a bonus,” he said.
“But it hits different when you play for your country, when you win World Cups. Still got that drive to win many more.”