Playing 100 cricket instead of 50 over cricket is crazy with the World Cup approaching.

England captain Jos Buttler once broke the 150 mark. Photo: Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images

In two months, England will start their 50-man World Cup defense. On October 5 in Ahmedabad, they will face New Zealand, whom they beat in the last World Cup final, not in the match itself, which was a draw, but in a couple of feet in a super over.

There are currently over 50 domestic competitions taking place in England, as well as some suitable venues such as York and Radlett, Newport and Cheltenham where Gloucestershire hosts Northamptonshire. The ground was filled to the brim, the clouds remained high, the college chapel still presides: the finest setting that deserved the best of England's 50 cricketers.

And yet none of England's current one-day internationals participate in this domestic 50-over competition. So is this madness? Or is it illogical, or illogical, or just stupid?

Some 120 of the best white ball cricketers in England participate, of course, in the Hundred, a competition that has tried to reinvent the wheel. They play games that are 200 balls long with overs that are usually five balls long before World Cup matches that are 600 balls long.

Battler plays for the Lancashire Lightning during the T20 quarter-finals last month. Photo: Ashley Allen/Getty Images

There is a world of difference. Batting in 100 consists of trying to hit the boundary with every ball. In 50-more cricket on flat grounds such as India, which will host the World Cup, the batsman who opens the bat must negotiate for a new ball that swings briefly; watch out for the use of opening play in most of the 10 overs when only two fielders are allowed outside the semicircle; spend many overs from 10 to 40 working spinners without getting out; and only then, in the last 10 overs or so, unleashing, as happens in games of T20 and Hundreds.

ODI batsmen — the top three are fine, anyway — need to hit 150 when they're set to win games in the subcontinent. Thus, Rohit Sharma from India scored eight points out of 150 or more, up to 264; and Virat Kohli five. Of England's likely squad, Jos Battler broke the 150 mark once against the Netherlands; Jason Roy scored three 150s; Johnny Bairstow, Joe Root, Harry Brooke and all the other possible candidates have come up short and are busy 20th out of the 100 if they don't rest after the Ashes.

Bowlers must be a complete set in ODI, able to master all skills. The attack must swing a new ball, then result in an accelerated pace and wrist rotation to take wickets, and roll back a length to contain. Wicketing in T20 and Hundred is usually limited to catching shots and clearances, but in ODIs on level fields they cannot concede a trick; and sliding fielders from the start can make all the difference by taking early wickets. Teams should have all the features of ODI and more.

However, members of the England team, which should be announced for the World Cup, if they play cricket at all two months before the World Cup, are involved in a dead-end competition that could lead to more bad habits than good ones. Playing 50 overs is a long time.

So England's 50-man domestic competition is currently in the hands of cricketers who won't be traveling to India this winter. If it's a training ground or a kindergarten where none of their best contemporaries compete, then it's for the 50-man World Cup in four or eight years. as desirable as the whole season until they were saved by 108th Graeme van Buuren, exactly the kind of century that cannot be achieved in T20 or Hundred. Northamptonshire's innings fluctuated even more wildly and interestingly until they lost by 23 points.

England do indeed have four ODIs against New Zealand in the first half of September when they can reacquaint themselves with the finalists four years ago , but they will not be able to show themselves in full force before the opening of the World Cup. England also have three ODIs in the second half of September against Ireland, but they are not the one-day force they used to be: they did not qualify for this 50-man World Cup, trailing the Netherlands and Scotland.

Maybe, at best, if England doesn't keep their 50+ man World Cup this fall, some seeds have been sown for the long term.