Tendulkar backs Australian experiment with split-innings

India : Sachin Tendulkar has voiced his support for Cricket Australia's trial with the split-innings format in one dayers.

Talking to the Times of India, Tendulkar said: "I am glad it's being tried out in Australia. I feel once the players have tried out this format, they will be in a better position to judge if the format works or not."

CA recently approved the controversial 45-over, split innings one-day format for trial in the National ODI Cup this season.

The new format includes 45 overs per team with split innings of 20 and 25 overs, a maximum of 12 overs by any one bowler and 10 wickets per team and 12 players per team (teams can bat any 11 of the 12 and field any 11 of the 12), among other changes.

Tendulkar had earlier proposed the split-innings method in September 2009 after an incident at the 2002 Champions Trophy final between India and Sri Lanka, where the match could not be concluded even after 110 overs over two days.

Meanwhile, Australia's cricketers association has slammed the trial shake-up of the domestic one-day game, saying there had been no consultation and that the new format based on split innings was difficult to comprehend.

In a radical departure from the conventional 50-over game Cricket Australia (CA) put the new format down to a response to the demands of fans, but the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) said it had disappointed players.

"The decision by CA to trial the split innings format in this year's domestic one-day event was made before collective player input was even sought," ACA chief executive Paul Marsh said yesterday.

"For the people that play and know the game better than anyone, this process has been difficult to comprehend and players are very disappointed.

"They acknowledge that the one-day format has had its recent challenges and as a collective they want to help those running the game find the best solution.

"However, the players don't believe the split innings format is the best solution."