Cricket calendar fuels burnout concerns
Cricket calendar fuels burnout concerns
Players are hobbling from one tour to another with barely a few days' rest because national boards push them to the brink in their bid for non-stop action to maximise earnings, they say.
Champions Australia and India, whose board says it has topped $1 billion in rights money for five years, are among the major boards under focus.
India's home series against England included a seven-game one-day series which ended on Saturday. Their players were on a flight a few hours later to play in two one-dayers against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
"We're tired but we are doing this for charity," said Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh with a weak smile, in a reference to the fact that proceeds from the first game were going to victims of last year's Kashmir earthquake.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting pleaded for some respite for his fatigued players before the second test in Bangladesh, which started on Monday.
The world's top side wobbled to victory in the first test against the lowest-ranked team, after being given just four days to recover from a tiring tour of South Africa.
"We have to look at it (scheduling) pretty closely," Ponting told reporters.
"The last thing we want now are guys going into the second test match that are fatigued and come up with an injury that could put them out for a long period of time.
"If you'd been in our dressing-room and seen how fatigued and exhausted some of the players are I think everyone would be quite surprised."
England's one-day series in India saw batsmen succumb to exhaustion in the sweltering heat.
England coach Duncan Fletcher rested tour captain Andrew Flintoff for the final three games, concerned about several injuries in the squad with a busy season ahead.
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi announced last week that he would skip tests to be fresh for the World Cup early next year.
The 26-year-old big hitter blamed the busy calendar.
"The amount of cricket being played these days is too hectic for me and I felt playing both forms was affecting my performances," he told Reuters.
Pakistan will play a minimum of nine tests and around 25 one-day games before the World Cup starts in March.
They will also play at least 15 extra one-dayers against India in the next five years as part of the Indian board's plans to stage 25 games at neutral venues to boost revenue.
Indian players are already struggling with fitness.
Sachin Tendulkar is recuperating after shoulder surgery on the latest in a series of injuries he has suffered in the last few years.
Explosive opening batsman Virender Sehwag is woefully out of form, having struggled with shoulder and back problems.
International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani recently warned of player burnout and called for national boards to manage their workloads.
"Player workload is an issue that the ICC is concerned about," Mani said.
"It was the reason why the Future Tour Program (FTP) was stretched from five to a six-year cycle.
"But some boards have filled up the gap with extra series when the idea was to provide players with a clear rest period.
"This is the responsibility of the boards."
Tim May, president of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), said players could rebel if the boards did not ease their workload.
"It's very, very high risk. It devalues the game because your players aren't at their best," he told Australia's The Sun-Herald newspaper at the weekend.
"The guys don't have time to prepare professionally for games," he said.
"The stakeholders, the spectators, miss out.
"You get rotation policies but even that devalues the games and the teams and the spectacle.
"It's a revenue-raising frenzy," May said.
"It's pushing the players into a position where they're just going to say, 'No, it's too much, we're walking away from this, we're not going to play in these games'."
Australian team psychologist Phil Jauncey said he was concerned about his team's virtually non-stop action since the pre-Ashes camp last May.
"They are a well-oiled machine but you don't run a good engine at full strength continuously," he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Cr...urnout-concerns/2006/04/19/1145344125907.html
Cricket calendar fuels burnout concerns
Players are hobbling from one tour to another with barely a few days' rest because national boards push them to the brink in their bid for non-stop action to maximise earnings, they say.
Champions Australia and India, whose board says it has topped $1 billion in rights money for five years, are among the major boards under focus.
India's home series against England included a seven-game one-day series which ended on Saturday. Their players were on a flight a few hours later to play in two one-dayers against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
"We're tired but we are doing this for charity," said Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh with a weak smile, in a reference to the fact that proceeds from the first game were going to victims of last year's Kashmir earthquake.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting pleaded for some respite for his fatigued players before the second test in Bangladesh, which started on Monday.
The world's top side wobbled to victory in the first test against the lowest-ranked team, after being given just four days to recover from a tiring tour of South Africa.
"We have to look at it (scheduling) pretty closely," Ponting told reporters.
"The last thing we want now are guys going into the second test match that are fatigued and come up with an injury that could put them out for a long period of time.
"If you'd been in our dressing-room and seen how fatigued and exhausted some of the players are I think everyone would be quite surprised."
England's one-day series in India saw batsmen succumb to exhaustion in the sweltering heat.
England coach Duncan Fletcher rested tour captain Andrew Flintoff for the final three games, concerned about several injuries in the squad with a busy season ahead.
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi announced last week that he would skip tests to be fresh for the World Cup early next year.
The 26-year-old big hitter blamed the busy calendar.
"The amount of cricket being played these days is too hectic for me and I felt playing both forms was affecting my performances," he told Reuters.
Pakistan will play a minimum of nine tests and around 25 one-day games before the World Cup starts in March.
They will also play at least 15 extra one-dayers against India in the next five years as part of the Indian board's plans to stage 25 games at neutral venues to boost revenue.
Indian players are already struggling with fitness.
Sachin Tendulkar is recuperating after shoulder surgery on the latest in a series of injuries he has suffered in the last few years.
Explosive opening batsman Virender Sehwag is woefully out of form, having struggled with shoulder and back problems.
International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani recently warned of player burnout and called for national boards to manage their workloads.
"Player workload is an issue that the ICC is concerned about," Mani said.
"It was the reason why the Future Tour Program (FTP) was stretched from five to a six-year cycle.
"But some boards have filled up the gap with extra series when the idea was to provide players with a clear rest period.
"This is the responsibility of the boards."
Tim May, president of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), said players could rebel if the boards did not ease their workload.
"It's very, very high risk. It devalues the game because your players aren't at their best," he told Australia's The Sun-Herald newspaper at the weekend.
"The guys don't have time to prepare professionally for games," he said.
"The stakeholders, the spectators, miss out.
"You get rotation policies but even that devalues the games and the teams and the spectacle.
"It's a revenue-raising frenzy," May said.
"It's pushing the players into a position where they're just going to say, 'No, it's too much, we're walking away from this, we're not going to play in these games'."
Australian team psychologist Phil Jauncey said he was concerned about his team's virtually non-stop action since the pre-Ashes camp last May.
"They are a well-oiled machine but you don't run a good engine at full strength continuously," he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Cr...urnout-concerns/2006/04/19/1145344125907.html