Mike Hussey says he is no fan of 40-over cricket, confirming player concerns about Cricket Australia's (CA) mooted change of the domestic limited overs format for next summer.
The CA board of directors met in Melbourne on Friday to discuss the prospect of radically altering the domestic limited overs format to four 20-over innings, or possibly two 40-over innings as is the case in England and South Africa.
But players and coaches appear united in their concern about such drastic change so close to the 2011 World Cup - in 50-over format - to be held on the Indian subcontinent.
Hussey, having played the 40-over format in England, says it is no substitute for 50-over matches.
"I know in England they play a 40-over competition," Hussey told the radio station SEN.
"I'm personally not a fan of it.
"In international cricket you play 50 overs and with the World Cup it's 50-over cricket and in Australia we're hosting a World Cup in 2015.
"I'm really keen to stick with the 50-over format. It is a lot different.
"That extra 10 overs is a lot different in the way you go about the game and I'd like to see us stick to the 50-over format."
Backing up Hussey was Tasmania captain and Australia squad member George Bailey.
"I'd like to think that six or seven months out from a World Cup, they wouldn't tinker with one-day cricket too much," Bailey said.
"I think while there's a World Cup still to be played for we'd better keep practicing that."
Australian Cricketers' Association chairman Darren Lehmann has said there would need to be much discussion of the issue before anything new is put in place.
"We're certainly concerned about that, there will need to be some thorough discussion, obviously quite quickly since we're talking about next season," Lehmann said this week.
"We're happy they're talking about reviewing the game and improving it, as far as how far they go, that has got to be discussed at length.
"Maybe reducing the overs to 40 per side is not a bad start, whether we can do two 20 over innings is something we need to discuss.
"My personal preference is to go to 40 overs per side, but I'm open to all ideas to improve the game."
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