Winning for your country beats playing franchise cricket: Adam Zampa

There’s a lot of uncertainty over the future of ODI cricket, but Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa still enjoys playing the 50-over format. Ahead of the first ODI against England on September 19 (Thursday), which will be Zampa’s 100th ODI, the 32-year-old said playing for his country will always be his number one priority. 

"There's been a lot of questions about the ODI format and what that looks [like] going forward. In terms of playing for Australia and that drive, I think every young guy coming through still thinks that's the be-all and end-all,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Zampa as saying.

"There's obviously those other opportunities in terms of franchise cricket and that's good. There's been a lot said about how it's a saturated market, but all these different competitions give other guys opportunities, whether it's guys who have just played a little bit of BBL or a bit of Blast, 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 feels like playing for your country is still the priority. I agree with you, 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."

Zampa was Australia’s leading wicket-taker when they won the 2021 T20 World Cup (13 wickets) and the 2023 ODI World Cup (23 wickets). Overall, the leg-spinner has 169 wickets in 99 ODIs @ 28.05 and 111 wickets in 92 T20Is @ 21.77.

"The feeling of playing for your country and still winning for your country beats playing franchise cricket and winning franchise cricket. I experienced the Hundred, it was great, I loved playing it, and winning at the end is a bonus but it hits different when you play for your country, when you win World Cups. Still got that drive to win many more."

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