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• A look at changing nature of international calendar ahead of Cricket World Cup

  The World Cup gets under way on Thursday with the status of one-day internationals dwindling as Twenty20 continues to take precedence.

  England have played fewer ODIs heading into this tournament than for any World Cup in almost 30 years and here, the PA news agency looks at the changing nature of the international calendar.

  Has the ODI bubble burst?

  The first two World Cups, in 1975 and 1979, were played with ODIs barely yet an established format – the first fixture took place on January 5, 1971 but only 53 were played all decade outside of those tournaments.

  Post-1979, England’s 42 ODIs in the four-year cycle leading up to this World Cup marks their third-lowest total and their fewest since the 1996 tournament, when they had played only 38 in between World Cups. They played 40 leading up to 1983.

  The picture is similar for the other leading ODI nations, with India’s 66 ODIs also their third-lowest in a World Cup cycle in that time and exceeding the four-year periods up to 1996 (63) and 1983 (27).

  Australia’s 44 is their lowest excluding the 1970s tournaments, with 64 leading up to the 1983 World Cup and at least 75 on every other occasion since.

  The four-year cycle was briefly broken by a switch to even-numbered years in the 1990s. There were five years between the tournaments in 1987 and 1992 and only three up to 1999, when the regular pattern was re-established.

  Twenty20 vision

  The decline of the 50-over game has been brought about by the rise of the shortest format and this cycle is the first time T20 internationals have made up the largest share of England’s fixtures.

  With 68 games, excluding those abandoned without a ball bowled, T20 accounts for 40.8 per cent of England’s games since the 50-over World Cup final against New Zealand on July 14, 2019.

  They have played 58 Tests in that time (34.3 per cent) and only 42 ODIs (24.9 per cent), the lowest share of England’s fixtures for the latter format since the years leading up to the 1975 World Cup when they played 50 Tests to 17 ODIs.

  T20 was only introduced for the first time in 2005 and made up just 2.8 per cent of England’s games between the 2003 and 2007 World Cups. That had jumped to 20.4 per cent in the next cycle and has doubled in the years since.

  Feeling the squeeze

  With all three formats battling for their place in the calendar, something has to give.

  Ben Stokes, the hero of England’s 2019 World Cup win, shockingly announced his retirement from the format last year with a warning that “there is too much cricket rammed in for people to play all three formats now”.

  He has returned for this World Cup – but as a specialist batter, with knee problems inhibiting his bowling – but his prolonged absence hinted at a wider trend.

  Eight of the 2019 World Cup-winning squad also appear in the group this time around – captain Jos Buttler, Stokes, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.

  They had played an average of 74.1 per cent of England’s games between the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, with Rashid at 94.3 per cent, but none have even reached that average mark in the years since.

  Moeen’s 73.8 per cent is the leading figure, with the average down to 48.8. Wood has played just 19 per cent, below even Stokes’ 31 per cent.

• Finlay Bealham determined to ‘make the minutes count’ as Ireland face Scotland

  Ireland prop Finlay Bealham is determined to “make the minutes count” as he prepares for a crucial showdown with Scotland following a frustrating start to his maiden Rugby World Cup.

  Australia-born Bealham made his first meaningful contribution of the competition by coming off the bench to help secure a statement 13-8 victory over defending champions South Africa in round three.

  He had been left out of the matchday 23 for his country’s opener against Romania and was then forced off by a head knock just 10 minutes into a second-half cameo the following week against Tonga.

  Bealham, who showed his quality with some fine performances in this year’s Six Nations Grand Slam triumph, has won most of his 34 Test caps as a replacement and is understudy to first-choice tighthead Tadhg Furlong.

  But the 31-year-old is ready and raring to go when called upon as Andy Farrell’s men attempt to avoid a shock early exit at the hands of the Scots.

  “From a mindset point of view, when I’m on the bench, I don’t care how many minutes I play,” said Bealham.

  “It’s ‘make the minutes count’. I try my best to do that.

  “Personally it was a frustrating start to the campaign but some of that stuff was out of my control.

  “When I got my chance, I just tried to come on and make a positive impact. It was incredible to get that experience.

  “I’m looking forward to the Scotland game.

  “Obviously there’s no team been named yet and it’s just about focusing on what I can control, fixing up things from the South Africa game and then bringing my game on top of that.”

  Three successive Pool B wins have put the world’s top-ranked nation on the cusp of the quarter-finals.

  Yet Ireland’s progression is far from assured going into Saturday evening’s pivotal Paris appointment.

  Bealham turns 32 next Monday and will celebrate his birthday either preparing for a last-eight clash with France, New Zealand or Italy, or reflecting on elimination.

  The Connacht player is eager to extend the “surreal” experience of playing on the world’s biggest stage and continue representing his late Irish grandmother, whom he thinks about when singing Ireland’s Call.

  “I moved over originally when I was 18, 19 years of age having a dream of playing professional rugby and I moved over because the dream seemed a bit harder where I was in Australia,” said Canberra-born Bealham.

  “I had that Irish heritage through my mum’s side of the family.

  “I was really tight with my nana at the time. She used to ring me every day when I was in Galway and I remember one time I forgot to bring my phone to training and she ended up calling me like 70 times, it was something crazy, you wouldn’t believe it.

  “I suppose to represent my nana, who I was always close with growing up, representing all them, would I have thought I’d be here a good few years later at a World Cup? It’s pretty surreal.

  “Every time I get to wear the jersey, every time I sing the anthem, I always think of my family and everyone who sacrificed for me to get to where I’m at.”

• England complete World Cup preparations with rain-affected win over Bangladesh

  England completed their World Cup preparation with a rain-affected victory against Bangladesh at Guwahati.

  Joe Root and Mooen Ali guided England to a four-wicket win under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method with a bludgeoning partnership of 79 in 10 overs.

  After Saturday’s clash with India was washed out, England suffered further weather frustration as they geared up to get their World Cup defence under way against New Zealand on Thursday.

  England were set a revised target of 197 in 37 overs after Bangladesh’s innings had been disrupted by a three-hour rain delay.

  Dawid Malan nicked to slip with just four to his name, but England raced to 50 inside five overs as Jonny Bairstow struck 34 from 21 balls.

  There was concern for England as Bairstow needed medical attention on his back while out in the middle, and the batter suffered more discomfort as Mustafizur Rahman soon dislodged his leg-stump bail.

  Harry Brook was also castled for 17 but Jos Buttler maintained England’s impetus, smashing five fours and a six in a 15-ball 30.

  Buttler’s blitzkrieg ended when he pulled Shoriful Islam to offer Towhid Hridoy a simple catch on the deep square boundary.

  England were 114 for five after Liam Livingstone drove Taskin Ahmed to mid-off and Najmul Hossain Shanto managed to wrap his fingers under the ball diving forward.

  At that point Bangladesh were sensing a surprise victory but Root, with precious runs following a recent run of sticky form, and Moeen were commanding.

  Moeen hammered 56 from 39 balls before falling four runs short of victory, England eventually easing home in 24.1 overs and with 77 deliveries to spare.

  Bangladesh made 188 for nine after rain reduced their innings to 37 overs.

  Only Mehidy Hasan Miraz (74) and Tanzid Hasan (45) went past 20 as Buttler used nine bowlers and rotated his attack in hot and humid conditions.

  Bangladesh won the toss but Buttler indicated he was content to field and give his bowlers a workout amid the prospect of rain.

  Mark Wood was back in action for the first time since the Ashes and bowled with plenty of pace and accuracy.

  Wood knocked out Tanzid’s middle stump, while Reece Topley took three for 23 from five and Adil Rashid and David Willey picked up two wickets apiece.