FICA puts player workload back on the agenda

The rescheduling of the Champions Trophy will contribute to player burnout and more cricketers considering early retirement to take up lucrative Twenty20 deals, according to the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA). Tim May, the FICA chief executive, said players faced a "ridiculous" workload over the next two years.

Australia will be one of the teams most affected as they face 18 months of nearly non-stop cricket beginning with the current tour of India. The IPL and Champions League Twenty20 have added to the hectic calendar for some individuals, which now includes the addition of the Champions Trophy next September and October.

"The Australian Cricketers' Association and Cricket Australia must try and resolve how they are going to manage the players' workload because anyone can see it's reasonably ridiculous," May told the Australian. "FICA knows of a number of players who are considering premature retirement to play in the IPL, Champions League, and other similar tournaments."

The Champions Trophy will now be held in what was a narrow vacant period for Australia after their Ashes tour and before their one-day series in India. It raises some issues for Cricket Australia, which had lobbied for the event to be relocated from Pakistan and staged in the existing window in September this year.

"This outcome illustrates the importance of what we were arguing early this year when we sought to find different venues for Champions Trophy but retain the dates," Cricket Australia's spokesman Peter Young said. "We wanted it moved to a safe venue but unfortunately our argument didn't prosper."

Player burnout had slipped off the radar after international stars from all over the world signed up for extra duties when the IPL began earlier this year. But May said even though the players had contributed to the schedule becoming fuller, the ICC needed to recognise that it risked losing players from Test and one-day cricket if workloads were not eased.

"They can't squeeze any more time away from home out of themselves," he said. "This is a growing issue and FICA acknowledges that the players have added to the problem by playing in the IPL, but the problem already existed.

"We are in danger of losing a considerable number of good players, which means there will be second-rate teams and international cricket will no longer be the best versus the best. The attractiveness of the IPL is that it can free up time for players while increasing their earning capacity."