Non-stop cricket forces rethink

David Lloyd13 April 2012

Another venue, another hotel room. If today is Tuesday then, for England's Yorkshire trio of Darren Gough, Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard, this must be Chelmsford.

A C&G Trophy quarter-final, against Nasser Hussain's Essex, will give all of them an opportunity to get Saturday's staggering NatWest triangular tournament defeat by India out of their systems.

But whether they will remember where they were on 16 July, never mind what they did, come next March is distinctly unlikely.

Player 'burn-out' has become the cricketing topic and one that was given fresh impetus by Graham Thorpe's announcement at the weekend that, as of now, England should consider him retired from one-day internationals and available only for Tests.

In fact, Thorpe has had more rest than many of his colleagues over the last few years because of injuries and his decision to skip the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe-three winters ago. But, with the break-up of his marriage, the Surrey batsman has decided he must be around more for his young children. No one could possibly blame Thorpe. Indeed Gough, another international now separated from his wife, believes other players will have to choose between the two forms of the game.

"I believe Graham has made the right decision and it's a situation more players will be forced into over the next few years," he said. Never mind years, the next eight months are likely to push England's finest to the limits of their strength and stamina.

Those players involved in Tests and oneday internationals can look forward to a near non-stop programme that starts when they assemble at Lord's early next week and finishes, along with their World Cup adventure, some time next March.

Four Tests against India, followed almost instantly by the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. Then, after a fortnight or so back here, it's off to Australia for five Ashes Tests and as many as 11 one-day internationals. That leaves just enough time for England to catch their breath, but not to come home, before they set up camp in South Africa for the World Cup.

With other countries experiencing similar itineraries, it is not surprising that the international captains called for some careful planning when they held their annual meeting in London yesterday.

"Generally, and there are some exceptions, they think it has gone about as far as it can go," said Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the International Cricket Council. "It would be difficult to fit in much more cricket, if we can fit in any more cricket."

If tomorrow is Wednesday, there must be a match somewhere.

Today's games (10.45): C&G Trophy quarter-finals - Chelmsford: Essex v Yorkshire; Canterbury: Kent v Gloucestershire.

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