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It has been a burning issue for some time now, and it wastherefore surprising that it took so long for the InternationalCricket Council (ICC) to convene a meeting of captains toconsider the enormous amount of cricket being played. But theoutcome of the meeting – an ICC announcement rejecting thecaptains’ plea to reduce the number of matches and stating thatthe current number was “manageable” – was something of adampener.

Over the last two decades, ever since the limited-overs gamecaught the fancy of the global public, administrators have beenkeen to cash in on the craze, and the players have just had tofall in line. More and more tournaments at more and more venuesbecame the order of the day, all in the name of globalisation.Not too long ago, one could not have imagined the game beingplayed at Toronto, Morocco, Hong Kong and Nairobi. But by 2000,it was not uncommon for a country to play 10 or 12 Tests andaround 40 one-day internationals in a calendar year.Too much of anything can lead to falling standards, generaldisinterest and fitness problems, and at the start of the newmillennium, it was obvious that player burnout was becoming amajor issue. Little wonder then that, after the meeting of theTest captains at Lord’s on Monday, New Zealand skipper StephenFleming made it clear that the ICC would have to consider a majorshake-up of the calendar to prevent player burnout. Emphasisingthe fitness aspect, Fleming said that players needed more time torecover after matches. There is hardly any time these daysbetween games for players to tend to injury; one game followsanother ­ a weekend double-header is a case in point – and teamssometimes fly straight from one competition to another.Such a situation is bound to have an adverse impact on a player’sphysique, however strong he may be. With this in mind, Flemingvoiced his concerns about the amount of time between games,touching upon the stress being put on players. “If the volume ofcricket is going to remain at this level, a bit more care must betaken with scheduling,” Fleming said quite candidly.Limited-over matches are now the main money-spinners in cricket,which is the chief reason why organisers go overboard in stagingsuch tourneys. But there is a real danger of killing the goosethat lays the golden eggs, and this point has been brought upoften in the recent past. “We appreciate that the marketing sideof the game is important and that the volume of cricket is alsoimportant, and that by reducing it we reduce the amount of incomein the game,” said Fleming. “We understand that in professionalsport there are going to be sacrifices, but we want the ICC toshare our concerns about the amount of cricket being played.”The effects of continuous cricket have not gone unnoticed.Several of them have either retired from one form or other of theinternational game in recent years citing fatigue, or withdrawnfrom tours for personal reasons. South Africa’s Jonty Rhodesretired from Test cricket last year, saying that he would like tokeep himself fresh for the 2003 World Cup. Just a few days ago,star England batsman Graham Thorpe announced his retirement fromone-day cricket because he could not continue playing bothversions of the game. Indian pace spearhead Javagal Srinath wasanother who had frequently expressed a desire to be rested fromone-day games before he finally announced his retirement fromTest cricket last month.Player burnout is a more riveting issue in Indian cricket thanelsewhere. For one thing, it is safe to assume that among allTest nations, India plays the most one-day games. Secondly,fitness standards not being as high as in other countries, Indianplayers often carry minor injuries into the field of play. Agrowing incidence of niggling fitness problems has seen a teamdoctor and a physiotherapist in attendance for the last couple ofyears, but ultimately there is little doubt that the playerswould only welcome a less demanding schedule. At the Lord’smeeting, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly voiced his concern on theissue. “I did make a point about excessive cricket being playedthese days,” he said.However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasdone well in agreeing that it would be a step in the rightdirection to reduce the number of matches. BCCI presidentJagmohan Dalmiya minced no words in saying that the currentschedule is too tight. “The ICC’s strenuous programme is makingthe situation difficult,”he said in Kolkata on Tuesday. Dalmiya,a former ICC chief himself, was of the view that Indian playerswere among those severely affected by non-stop travel and play.”The players sometimes don’t have 24 hours to rest. They have notime to recoup. But one has to fulfill commitments,” he said.Dalmiya also referred to the team’s hectic schedule in the run-upto next year’s World Cup in South Africa. India returned from atour of West Indies early in June and set off for England afortnight later to play a one-day series and four Tests, endingon September 10. The players will then jet out immediately toreach Colombo for the ICC Champions Trophy, scheduled fromSeptember 12 to 29. They then face the West Indies in a homeseries from October 1 to November 24 before leaving on a tour ofNew Zealand, scheduled from December 4 to January 14. The teamwill hold its final World Cup preparations at home before leavingfor South Africa on January 31 for the mega-event, to be heldfrom February 8 to March 23.In a bid to reduce the load on the players, the BCCI recentlypersuaded the West Indies and New Zealand boards to cut down thenumber of Tests by two, adding two one-dayers to the originalschedule. Besides reducing the number of playing days, the changeshould also help prepare the team better for the World Cup.Cricketers hardly get a break these days, what with India inparticular having gone into overdrive in matches being playedvirtually round the year. The players have begun to feel thestrain, and it is about time the administrators put the fitnessproblems of the players above monetary gains while drawing upfuture schedules.

The funeral of former Press cricket writer R T ‘Dick’ Brittenden was held in Christchurch today with a large crowd over-flowing to outside the funeral home.Brittenden, who was widely regarded as the finest cricket journalist New Zealand has produced, died earlier this week.Cricket administrators, players and supporters were joined by family and members of the newspaper and golfing fraternity.Brittenden had a long-standing love of golf and was a former member of the Waitikiri Golf Club where, it was humorously related during the service, part of the course was still named after him from the occasion of a hole-in-one he achieved.Playing a shot on the club’s 130-metre 17th hole, Brittenden hit a low shot which passed between two bunkers in front of the green, only six metres apart, rolled up the green, hit the pin and dropped into the hole.The approach is commonly referred to still as the “Brittenden by-pass”.However, it was for his contribution to cricket in Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand that he was remembered and former New Zealand representative Brian Hastings spoke on behalf of cricketers when he said Brittenden would be remembered as a man of warmth, kindness and a lovely sense of humour who had great loyalty towards his staff.”He was a good boss, kind and generous.”He was a wonderful tourist and players had the utmost respect for him. He knew when to keep his distance and he was regarded as an unofficial team manager.”He was an intergral part and most popular member of touring sides,” he said.Hastings related the incident at Hyderabad in 1969 when New Zealand was playing the third Test of a series against India. The team was staying at the ground and at the end of the first day New Zealand were 181/9.On the second day it rained, and the third day was a rest day. During the rest day Brittenden happened to notice the groundsman going out to mow the pitch only to be stopped doing so by the umpires.This concerned Brittenden who informed the New Zealand team management, and when the groundsman went out to mow the pitch on the fourth day, the New Zealanders complained to the umpires, because the laws stated that the pitch could only be mown on every other day and the rest day was to be included.Under the laws, the pitch should have been mown on the rest day, and the New Zealanders said it should not be mown on the fourth day. The secretary of the Board of Control in India was drawn into the debate and he eventually ruled in New Zealand’s favour.And on that fourth day, India at one stage were 49/9, before the last pair added 40 more runs.New Zealand then declared their second innings closed at 175/8, leaving India a target of 268 to win. When they were 76/7 it started to rain and despite the best efforts of the New Zealanders the game was abandoned.But Hastings said New Zealand were provided with a chance of winning what would have been their first series by the eagle eye of Dick Brittenden.Hastings also recalled that much later, when he was serving as president of Canterbury Cricket, he had the pleasure of making a presentation to Brittenden marking his 60 years of covering club cricket which Hastings described as a “remarkable achievement.”

James Brinkley seized his second chance of a first-class career by bringing a Gloucestershire charge to an abrupt halt at Chester-le-Street today.The Scotland-born, Australia-raised seamer took 5-9 in 22 balls to finish with 6-32 as the visitors slumped from 188 for four to 198 all out.Queenslander Martin Love then stroked his second half-century of the match, finishing on 63 not out, as Durham reached 104 for two in the second innings to lead by 148.Brinkley’s previous best was the 6-98 he took on his debut for Worcestershire seven years ago. Injury restricted him to 19 games in four seasons before he was released and he played for Herefordshire last season.Neil Killeen apart, Brinkley looked as ordinary as the rest of the Durham attack as Kim Barnett led Gloucestershire’s recovery from four for two. Ian Harvey thrashed 36 off 34 balls and 42 runs came off the first six overs after lunch, 15 coming off one over from Steve Harmison. But the rot set in when Barnett’s dashing innings of 82 off 106 balls ended when he flashed at a widish ball from Brinkley and sliced to gully.There was no such extravagance from Love, who again looked totally composed as he reached 50 off 100 balls. Following the early loss of skipper Jon Lewis, bowled by his namesake for one, Love put on 54 with Michael Gough and shared an unbroken stand of 46 with Jimmy Daley.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has named 128 cricketers for thenationaland regional academies which will start simultaneously fromMay 14 at different cities.Announcingthe names of the cricketers, a PCB spokesman said onThursday that 22 and 24 players were selected for the national academyand Paksitan Juniors academyto be started at Lahore. Similarly, 21named for Rawalpindi, 28 for Karachi and 27 for Peshawar academies.Each players will get a stipend of Rs 5000 per month. For the nationalacademy board and lodging facility will be provided. For the regionalacademies only outstation players will get board and lodgingfacilities.The academies will be located at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, NationalStadium, Karachi, KRL ground, Rawalpindi and Qayyum Stadium, Peshawar.Former Test all-rounder Mudassar Nazar will be the chief coach. TheNational Academy panel of coaches will consist of Mohsin Kamal and AliZia, the Pakistan Juniors will have Haroon Rashid and Azhar Khan asthe coaches. Sikandar Bakht and Jalaluddin will be the panel ofcoaches at Karachi, Masood Anwar and Sabih Azhar will work atRawalpindi. Farrukh Zaman and Raj Hans are two coaches for Peshawar.The National Cricket Academy will be formally inaugurated at theGaddafi Stadium on May 14. The formal inauguration of Karachi,Rawalpindi and Peshawar Academies will be held on May 15, 16 and 18.The regional academy, Lahore will be inaugurated later, at Sheikhupuraon June 1.The syllabus at the National Academy covers social and communicationskills, besides hard core cricket matters. The present term of theseAcademies will last for three months and will be completed by August25, he said. All the selected players are asked to report on May 13 by4 pm at their respective station.

The start of the first day’s play at Bath Cricket 2002 Festival was delayed until mid afternoon because of the damp conditions.Having won the toss and decided to put Hampshire into bat when the players did take the field returning fast bowler Richard Johnson quickly got back into his stride and with the score on 6 sent opener Derek Kenway back to the pavilion after having him caught by Peter Bowler.Will Kendall and Giles White put on 82 before Simon Francis, playing against his old county, accounted for White. Francis struck again 10 runs later when he disposed of Robin Smith for 10 to make the visitors 98 for 3.Kendall and Neil Johnson remained steadfast until the close of play by which time Hampshire had reached 149 for 3 off 48 overs, with Kendall unbeaten on 70.After the close of play Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: " I feel OK about the day,there has been some good stuff, but perhaps it could have been a little bit better. We bowled short at times, but we didn’t have a lot of luck."The coach continued: "Johnno had an excellent comeback, it was just like he’d never been away, and there have been no repercussions, and once Simon Francis settled down he looked dangerous at times. Tomorrow we will be looking to get some quick wickets early on."

ScorecardParas Dogras’s half-century enabled North Zone to take control of their Duleep Trophy match against West Zone on the second day in Chennai. His 77 pushed the overnight 251 for 3 to 484 all out shortly before the close. An early wicket then put West Zone on the back foot.Dogra struck 10 boundaries and a six in his 147-ball innings and shared a partnership of 88 with Rishi Dhawan and took North Zone from 299 for 5 into a strong position at 387 for 6. Dogra became the third wicket for Kamlesh Makvana but there was more to come for North Zone as Amit Mishra settled in and found a most stubborn partner in Ishant Sharma, who survived 72 balls scoring just 8. He hung around long enough for Mishra to strike two fours and two sixes in his 48 from 94 balls.The eighth wicket stand added 47 before Makvana removed both players lbw to complete his five-wicket haul. But there was still time for a cameo from Parvinder Awana, who made 23 from 22 balls to boost the total.West Zone had three overs to survive to the close but Ajinkya Rahane fell caught behind to his first ball from Sharma.

Wellington and Northern Districts ended the first day of the Shell Trophy match evenly poised today – which would not have pleased Wellington, who took the opportunity to bowl on a lively green-tinged pitch only to see Northern survive early trials and middle-order droughts to reach 283 with just six overs left in the day’s play.If that was not bad enough for the championship leaders, they lost their star wicket-keeper in the third over after lunch. Chris Nevin left the field with a damaged thumb after a spectacular if unsuccessful dive for a catch down the leg side from Hamish Marshall.Wellington coach Vaughn Johnson advised that x-rays had established the thumb was not broken but a further assessment of the injury would not be available until tomorrow.On the field it was a case of runs coming in spurts. After the Wellington pace men Mark Gillespie and Iain O’Brien had enjoyed the conditions – and James Marshall hadn’t – Michael Parlane (60) and Mark Bailey (47) began to find the pace of the pitch to their liking, rattling on 109 together before they were out in quick succession before lunch, which Northern reached at 122 for three.Parlane, through a mixture of solid work and the occasional injudicious waft, posted the team’s top score, his 60 coming off 97 balls.However, if the pre-lunch session offered a run feast, matters quietened considerably after the break as Grant Bradburn (25) and Matthew Hart (31) set about building a solid partnership. Just when it appeared they might be settling in for the long haul, they came to grief, the pair’s combined contribution coming to an end at 57.The only other partnership of note was a lively late-in-the-day affair that saw Simon Doull provide a typically swashbuckling innings of 46 in a partnership with Robbie Hart of 56.The regular comings and goings from the batting crease reflected the interest that the Wellington bowlers maintained. After Gillespie and O’Brien during their first spells gained early pace, lift and movement from the pitch but little tangible reward, Matthew Bell rang the changes regularly. It worked, particularly with his medium pacer Mayu Pasupati gaining each of his three wickets at the beginning of spells.On a hot day, O’Brien earned just reward for his 30 overs of work, taking four for 64. Pasupati, three for 51 after a rocky start, and Gillespie, three for 87, were the supporting cast, along with their catchers, Richard Jones in particular taking a beaut. The spinners, Mark Jefferson and Jeetan Patel, can expect to have their day later in the match.Wellington resume tomorrow with Bell and Jones at the wicket, the score on 17 and their immediate target the 284 necessary for first innings points. And they can expect the best batting conditions of the match.But the biggest concern overnight is likely to be the condition of Nevin’s thumb.

Graham Gooch, the England batting coach, made no excuses for an underwhelming performance by England’s top-order in the Ashes warm-up match against Essex at Chelmsford.None of the England top seven were able to register a half-century as three Essex bowlers with only eight wickets between them this season reduced England to 212 for 7. An eighth-wicket stand of 116 between Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann rescued them but Gooch bluntly asserted that England “had to do better” if they were to win the Ashes.However, he refuted any suggestion that England might be struggling to adapt to long-form, red-ball cricket after several weeks of limited-overs games or that the low-key nature of this match – albeit played in front of a full-house crowd of 6,500 at Chelmsford – might have contributed to any lack of intensity in the performance.”Modern-day players have to switch between three formats now,” Gooch said. “I wouldn’t make excuses for that: it is something you have to handle. Players have to make the adjustments. I don’t make any excuses for them and I don’t think any of our players would want to use that as an excuse. Our guys got in and they got out. They won’t be happy with that and next time they get a chance they have got to do a better job.”It is an important game. The pre-Test games in Australia last time round served us well. They got us into the right frame of mind and the right attitude to win the Ashes. It’s not just another game; it’s not just a warm-up game: it’s the only game that matters. And tomorrow morning, it will be the only game that matters, too.”We would have liked the top-order to spend more time at the crease and to capitalise on their starts. You want your main batsmen to get into a bit of rhythm and to get their games in order. We’re building to peak next week and we would have liked a bit more from some of those guys.”You have to bat long. There’s no secret to it. Once you get in you have to capitalise on that and, come the Test series, we have to put big totals on the board if we get starts. The job of the batters is to build a platform and create an opportunity for the bowlers to win the match. That’s their job and they know that it is their job.”Today wasn’t a disaster, but some of the guys would have wanted to spend more time out there.”Gooch did reserve warm praise for Joe Root, however. Root looks set to open in the first Investec Test of the Ashes series after England omitted Nick Compton and, in the eyes of Gooch, there is no reason why Root should not prove a success.”Joe is a natural opener,” Gooch said. “The selectors want to look at Joe and give themselves an option. Personally I don’t see any reason why Joe won’t make a success if he bats at the top of the order or in the middle-order. He is a consummate player as a young man already. He has things to work on and he has to improve – like every player – but he started out his career opening the batting and he has had a lot of success there this season with Yorkshire.”I can’t see any reason he won’t make a success if he is given the opportunity of opening in the first Test at Trent Bridge. It’s not a case of making an adjustment; he’s an opener anyway.”If few of the England players will look back at the day with fond memories, it was a much better day for Tom Craddock. The 23-year-old legspinner went into the game without a first-class* wicket this season and, in his first spell was confronted by Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen on a surface his captain, Ravi Bopara, described as “the best for a few years” at Chelmsford.But Craddock, who broke into first-class cricket through the MCCU scheme and the Unicorns programme, responded by dismissing both of them and then adding the wicket of Matt Prior.”When Ravi threw me the ball, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell were standing there,” he said. “I just wanted to land a few and maybe join a few dots together, but taking three is surreal.”I’ve watched Kevin for a long time and I know full well he will happily take down spinners. I thought I’d bowl my areas and, if he took me down a couple of times, I’d put the men back accordingly, but happily enough he gave me a caught-and-bowled chance. It’s the best day of my career; no doubts.”*This match had first-class status removed on the third day

Asad Rauf, the Pakistan umpire who officiated in the IPL, has arrived in Lahore, Pakistan, according to . The Mumbai Police, which arrested Gurunath Meiyappan, a top Chennai Super Kings official and son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud, is also seeking to question Rauf. Rauf was withdrawn from the upcoming Champions Trophy in England by the ICC following media reports that indicated he was under investigation by Mumbai Police.However, Rauf’s manager, Shahzad Ahmed, has denied Rauf’s involvement in any corrupt practices. “Asad has no links with any bookie nor is he involved in any corrupt practice,” Ahmed told . “He has had a very clean career. I think it is totally unfair the way the media has taken it for granted.”Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime), Mumbai confirmed that Rauf left India a few days ago. “He [Rauf] left the country from Delhi a few days back,” Roy was quoted as saying in . “Gurunath’s questioning is key as it will help us ‘connect a lot of dots’ including that of the suspected involvement of Rauf, following which we will take a call.” quoted a family source as saying: “Rauf has nothing to hide, he reached Lahore after completing his matches in the league (in India). Rauf is disappointed that he was not given a chance to clear his name and was excluded from the Champions Trophy but once his name is cleared he will resume his career in the game he loves. Rauf is bound by the ICC code so at an appropriate time he will speak.”

Shane Warne believes fast-tracking young players into the Sheffield Shield rather than having them cut their teeth on Twenty20 is key to improving the strength of domestic cricket in Australia and ultimately the national team. In the preview of an exclusive eight-part video series, , which will appear on ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to the Ashes, Warne said the Sheffield Shield had slipped from its previous status as the best first-class breeding ground in the world.The absence of young batsmen making mountains of domestic runs was especially obvious in the 2012-13 season, when the top three Shield run scorers were the 38-year-old Ricky Ponting, Mark Cosgrove, who has been playing for more than a decade, and Chris Rogers, 35. That dearth of batsmen knocking down the door left the national selectors few options but to recall Rogers for the upcoming Ashes series in England.”I think we’ve got a lot of talent at the moment. I think if we pick the right players, we stick with them, we back them, and they have to then perform and repay that faith too,” Warne said. “If they don’t, well, sorry, [you’re] out. And that’s a fine balance between what’s long enough and how long do you stick with someone for. But I think we have got the talent there.”We’ve got to get the infrastructure right at domestic level. In any good business we need those foundations to be strong at the bottom and … we’ve always prided ourselves on [the Sheffield Shield] being the best first-class cricket in the world. Now I’m not sure we still have got the best first-class cricket in the world.”I think we have got a pretty good system, I think we have run a very tight ship. And I think we’ve got a lot of good young players. We just need to fast-track them and get them experience at domestic cricket and learn how to play the four-day game. I think if you can play the four-day game you will adapt to one-day and Twenty20, not the other way around, play one-day cricket and Twenty20s and try to adapt to four-day cricket – it’s completely different.”The introduction of the Big Bash League with eight teams has meant that over the past couple of seasons there have been greater opportunities for young players to break into domestic cricket via Twenty20 rather than the Sheffield Shield. Warne said it would take time – and well beyond this year’s back-to-back Ashes series – for Australia to get back on track and fight their way up from their current ICC rankings of fourth in Test cricket, third in ODIs and seventh in T20.”I think we’ve got it there but I think it’s going to take a good 12 or 18 months,” Warne said. “We’ve got to get the structure right, we’ve got to get the process right, we’ve got to get selection right. We’ve got to get that mantra … put the fans first. Be the best players we possibly can. Be entertaining. Play with passion.”I think the players love playing cricket for Australia. They’re passionate and they would do anything for it. I’m just not sure we’re putting the fans first. I’m not sure we’ve got the structure right, I’m not sure we’ve got the process right, and I don’t believe we’re selecting the right players.”