Is too much cricket being played?

The risks of player burn-out were again raised by England coach Duncan Fletcher after Graham Thorpe's decision to retire from one-day internationals.

However, the International Cricket Council has rejected calls to cut the number of Test and one-day matches between now and 2007.

After a crisis meeting at Lords, attended by the captains of the Test playing countries, the chief executive of the ICC, Malcolm Speed, said no changes would be made.

England face a punishing schedule this winter with a trip to Sri Lanka in September, the Ashes in Australia and the World Cup in South Africa next February-March.

Should players be given a break?

There is definitely too much one day cricket but while it is a money spinner that won't change. Perhaps Australia have gone closest to dealing better than most with this problem by developing a large reserve of players some of whom are particularly suited to the one day game. To be able to pick an 11 from a much bigger squad must make a difference.
Tim, UK

The players may need breaks, but that doesn't mean that there should be fewer matches. Instead, Test and one day squads should be rotated like in football and rugby. Nobody expects footballers to play in every match of a season, and individual cricketer's needs should also be looked after.
Ian, UK

The biggest problem in cricket is the number of meaningless one day internationals. They're like fast food - you enjoy it at the time, but every experience is pretty much the same. Cut the down the number of one dayers, and get some credibility back into the game!
Greg, Australia

Are they having a laugh? I can understand that the bowlers put their bodies through it a bit, but apart from that the rest get to sit in the pavilion for half the match and then stand around and do a bit of running!

You don't hear the riders in the Tour de France complaining of burn-out, even though in three weeks they're going to cycle thousands of kilometres; and in general race more miles a year than most of us drive! They should stop moaning and play the sport they love and get paid well to take part in
Lee, England

We must be concerned that young players - especially fast bowlers - are suffering from stress injuries at a younger and younger age due to the amount of cricket they are expected to play.
Caroline Low, Scotland

Is it a coincidence that this 'burn-out' thing has cropped up in both football and cricket within a few days, or is it just the latest buzzword for sportspeople who like to have a good whinge? I suspect the latter.

Cricketers spend most of their playing time either standing still on the field, or sitting around in the pavilion - doesn't look very tiring from here. Baseball players play nearly every day for at least six months, and if any of them moaned about burn-out they'd be laughed out of the country.
Graham, UK

Why not? In the USA baseball takes a break for about a week. During the break they play an "Allstar Game". The players for each team's starting line-up are voted for by the fans through MLB's website.

I'm not suggesting that an Allstar game takes place here but a break where some event like it is another possibility.
Jonathan, UK

This is a disgrace! Cricketers make good money from these one-day games. Also, there is the opportunity for the team to experiment with youngsters and new players. Players complain of "burn- out", yet this is an excuse for losing form.

They should have a rest and give another cricketer a chance. One-day games have made cricket a lucrative sport from televison revenues. It gives the general public a chance to experience live cricket which ends in a decisive result more often than Test cricket.

As far as I am concerned, cricketers will lose by reducing the numbers of games played as they are biting the very hand that feeds them. This is astounding!
Imran Khan, UK

If Deepak R, from Canada knows anything about cricket he should know that it is not a slow game. Anyone who has attempted to bowl anything approaching medium pace will know it puts a tremendous, unnatural strain on your body.

I should know, my back went 15 years ago and I still suffer now! The amount of cricket played now is just ridiculous and more players of Thorpe's ability will ponder whether the pressure is worth it. Cricket breaks marriages at all levels, so beware ICC!
Neil, England

Player burn-out? Graham Thorpe must be having a laugh. He fields at slip or close to the wicket most of the time and doesn't bowl. Hardly the most gruelling lifestyle I can think of.

Professional sportsmen need to remember that the people who buy the tickets for Test matches and ODIs will often work a lot harder and a lot longer for a lot less reward and constant moaning is going to do nothing more than alienate the general public.
Matthew, Wales

There is too much pointless cricket at top level. This dwarfs interest away from lower level games where the future champions are being developed - but which could wither in the meantime because of neglect.

The danger is that the lower level games without their internationals lose public interest, as do the international games themselves when they serve no purpose. A recent example of this was the attempt in Australia to mount international one-day games during our off-season (when the public's interest and attention was elsewhere - on football).

While there is a need for cricket to make money for the players and the game generally, to overdo this can kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. The ICC is still too weak a body to solve these problems. Hopefully it will get a better hold on the game itself, how it is played and how the international game can best be structured.
Andrew, UK/Australia

Get rid of half of the pointless one day competitions and get back to the idea of Test cricket as being the most important.
Neil, UK

Let's face facts, both cricketers and footballers play too much during their respective seasons. Both games should take a break in mid-season. It would refresh appetites, heal injuries and reduce stress, etc. But it won't be allowed to happen; the clubs would lose too much gate revenue.
Baz, UK

Excessive one day games and five-match Tests should be history soon if players are to perform at peak. This also must be followed with excessive practice matches especially during English and Aussie tours.
Ravi Randeniya, Canada

A few years ago all Tests were played with a rest day (usually the Sunday) that allowed players a brief rest in the middle of a match. This was regarded as being essential to help players over minor injuries incurred during a match. Now, a rest day is a distant memory and many tests are even played 'back to back' so that the players get only minimum rest, even between games.

If this were not enough, huge numbers of one day matches are being played too. In a BBC phone-in after the Hansie Cronje affair I asked Clive Lloyd (the guest on the programme) if he thought that part of the problem was that so many one day matches were being played that throwing the occasional match might not matter to weary cricketers.

He responded that he had recently refereed a tournament, played in June if I recall rightly, and by then India and Pakistan had already played more than 60 internationals that year!! This is a mind-boggling workload. It devalues the matches, exhausts the players and makes them susceptible to the blandishments of the match fixers.

Surely it is in everyone's interests (apart from some of the greedier administrators) to limit sides to a maximum of perhaps 25 one day internationals each year. Hopefully this would even encourage additional teams like Kenya who aspire to Test status to be invited to more tournaments to reduce the load on other sides.
Mark Kidger, Tenerife/U.K.

I think that there should be an upper limit on the number of one-day matches and a lower limit on the number of Test matches. Pakistan, for instance, plays far too many one day internationals, and very few Test matches. I don't even remember when we last played the Australians or the West Indians in a five Test series.

Pakistani cricket authorities have been concentrating too much on the 'fast-food' version of the game, neglecting real cricket in the process. Countries that do not play a certain number of Test matches in a year should be penalised. Let's start with Pakistan.
Nausherwan Lahori, Lahore, Pakistan

The ICC's and cricket board's greed is driving players' burn-out. Players definitely need a break. We need fewer matches of both types. Unfortunately now most people play for money and not for the love of the game. Media and cricket boards, including ICC, have taken-over the gentleman's game
R Mehta, Australia

When will the people who run this beautiful game start listening to the players on the ground? As per usual the ICC is sticking its head in the sand with a staggering arrogance & indifference that we've come to expect. When will they learn?
Paul Woodland, U.K.

Should players be given a break? Yes. But not the cricket. You can rotate players. That would be great chance to test the young talent and give breaks to some of the senior players in the team.
Venkat Reddy, US

Cricket players are not half as overworked as professional NBA, NHL, or MLB players. North American sportsmen play 7-8 months, also rigorous training in the off season. Cricket is a very slow, non contact type of sport.
Deepak R, Canada

Well, here we go again: the whingers are at it. I find it ridiculous that player burn-out should be cited as a reason for freeing up the cricketing schedule. Professional cricketers should be expected to be fit and I think England are well up to it.

If there is anybody who should be worried, it is countries like India and Sri Lanka: just look at Srinath, he looked like he needed a boost of steroids to get through the tour of West Indies and that too at a limping rate!

Professional sport is synonymous with gruelling schedules, injuries, as well as the battle to stay fit for games. Agreed, one cannot compare the pro ice-hockey schedule to cricket, but here in Canada, the hockey teams face similar problems but don't whine about the punishing schedule.
Vivek Venkatesh, India (Canada)

This is not the first time Duncan Fletcher has raised this point and will not be the last time if nothing is done on this issue. So much cricket is being played these days by very country that to some extent, Fletcher is dead right in the risks of player burn-out.
Allwyn, London

Practice makes Perfect' - in cricketing terms, this can be translated to say more match practice the players get, the better they perform. Compared to nations like India and Sri Lanka, England had been playing very little cricket in the international arena.

But in the last year or so, England have been playing a little more than they are used to. It may be that the players are tired and are prone to injuries. But today England are a much stronger team than they were a few years ago. Players are confident about their playing skills. We have all seen this from the recent Natwest tournament.

England should continue to play more cricket, which would not only open doors for several young players, but also give them a good chance of winning the World Cup. Having a long break, in my opinion, is not a good idea.
Sri Raghavan, UK

I am in no doubt that players should be given a break. How can we expect to win the World Cup if the squad is battling exhaustion as well as the talent of the opposition. It was evident on Saturday how tired the players can become in extreme heat, conditions which will be evident in South Africa.
The Jessup, Brighton

Something definitely needs to be done to prevent the mind-boggling schedules we are seeing today. Cricket boards must be prudent and pick near totally different squads for Tests and one-dayers.

Another option is to give a better structure to the one- day competitions being played around the world so that we have fewer meaningless one-day games played.
Siddhartha Shivshankar, India (USA)

What a great idea. Give cricketers a break, give footballers a break. Don't worry about me, I'll just go on working eight hours a day for five days a week in my job. I can cope, but it should be obvious to anyone that sportsmen with all their financial worries and extraordinarily heavy workloads need to put their feet up for considerably longer than the half a year they already get off.
Bill, UK

When is the last time a team played a series with fully fit players? I think it is time for the boards to think about this and reduce the burden on the players.
Raj, UK/India