Cook eases strike fears

Alastair Cook, the England vice-captain, has played down fears that England players would consider strike action to reduce their heavy fixture list.

Cook caused a stir over the weekend when quotes appeared in a Sunday newspaper saying England players could 'go on strike' but he told the Metro on Tuesday that this was a misunderstanding.

"I didn't mean to use the word 'strike'," he said. "It's not what I meant. It was a misunderstanding and it's been blown out of proportion. In fact, there's nothing further from our minds as a team."

Cook, who is widely tipped to take over from Andrew Strauss as England one-day captain, did nevertheless reiterate his view that England play too much cricket. "We always talk about playing too much cricket - just look at this winter in Australia and then the World Cup, it's a problem. There is talk among us as a team that something needs to be done to reduce the amount of cricket we play but we have never ever mentioned striking, it's just not on the agenda."

The players who featured in both the Test and ODI sides spent just three nights at home from the start of the successful Ashes tour in November to last month's World Cup exit and over the weekend Cook, who isn't part of the ODI side, said he felt for the players.

"I feel sorry for the lads. I've been pretty much the only one who's been able to play and to enjoy the experience of winning because of the schedule.

"It has to change before it all becomes meaningless. As players we don't have much power. We keep on saying that we play too much cricket. I've been saying this since I was 18 and I'm now 26, but we cram more and more games in."