Speed hits back at FICA's claim

Malcolm Speed on player workloads: 'The subject remains very much on the ICC's agenda' © Getty Images

Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, has hit back at claims made by Tim May, chairman of FICA, the international players' association, that the recently-released Future Tours Programme was " a disaster" as it placed players under even greater workloads.

"Far from ignoring the issue of player workload and FICA's request for an upper limit on the amount of matches played, the subject remains very much on the ICC's agenda," Speed countered. "Most of the members' schedules fall well short of the guidelines and several of our members, including some of those where the players' association is affiliated to FICA, maintain the view that they would like to be playing more cricket than they currently have scheduled.

"On the flip side, India, which has more ODI matches scheduled than any other country, indicated at a recent ICC board meeting that their playing schedule was supported by their player group," he continued. "Beyond the FTP commitments, members may look to schedule additional matches to maximise their revenue and so grow the game. But they also need to responsibly manage those commitments to protect their prime assets, the players, and the integrity of the game."

Speed reiterated comments he made last month about the money being earned by modern players. "They are doing something the vast majority of people watching them can only dream of, are better rewarded for their efforts than any of their predecessors and many of them also have access to excellent support structures."

And he concluded with another criticism of May, who told The Wisden Cricketer that he could envisage a situation where players had to resort to taking drugs to as a response to the demands placed upon them. "Remarks like that serve no purpose in a reasoned debate," Speed said, "and they do FICA no credit at all."