Do players get injured because of too much cricket?

I hope I am not the only one completely bewildered by the apparent correlation between too much cricket and the current status of injuries to players from various teams. As I see it, players are fit to play the World Cup till they are ruled out, and the list of players now unavailable leaves me a touch puzzled.

Eoin Morgan is the latest on the list, but surely you can fracture a finger playing your first game of the season, presumably being well-rested after the first few matches have been washed out. And while I sympathise with Morgan - he was, as some eagle-eyed readers would recall, among the three players I was most excited about for the future, and I believe it is a substantial loss for England - he didn't spend too much time in the middle during the Ashes. I fear with Morgan, as with a few others, we are looking at two facts and searching for a link, however tenuous it might be.

England also have trouble with Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan, neither of whom has had an itinerary from hell. Bresnan made the playing XI due to injury to Stuart Broad (whose torn abdominal muscle surfaced pretty early in the Ashes campaign) and Shahzad really didn't play much. I will admit, though, that the two people about whom the theory acquires some merit are Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann and at the moment they are expected to make it. If they have to miss out, it will be as big a blow, if not bigger, than the loss of Morgan. I fear England's greater worry will be exhaustion rather than injury.

India's loss is Praveen Kumar, again someone who hasn't had a particularly arduous time on a cricket ground. He didn't play the Tests and missed more one-day games than he played. Australia have lost Nathan Hauritz, who dislocated his shoulder after a fall in the field. He was tempted to sell his team gear during the season, so little did he have to look forward to. It is a particularly dismal turn of fate - his selection must have felt like the sunrise after a long night.

Australia have also lost Michael Hussey. A tendon being ripped is too painful to contemplate, let alone experience. Typically, the Aussies are taking it on the chin and not complaining of workload and things allied. And as promising as young Callum Ferguson is, the loss of the elder Hussey is a major blow, with neither Cameron White nor David Hussey providing the degree of consistency that he did. Jason Krejza for Hauritz though seems a like-for-like swap, and Australia might well go into the World Cup with Brett Lee batting at No. 10. That makes it a pretty decent line-up.

There are a few other players, though, who are crucial to their team's fortunes and who need to be nursed through the tournament. And while viewers might fret over the rather elaborate schedule, these are the players who will benefit most from it. Top of that list will be Jacques Kallis, who controls the balance of the South Africans. As a batsman alone he is worth his weight in gold - or onions or 2G allotment letters, whichever is the greater asset to possess. In recent times his fitness has been a concern, and he is no longer a young colt who doesn't know what it is to be tired.

Jimmy Anderson is England's lead bowler, and showed in Australia that he can now be the same force away from home that he is in more familiar conditions. He has bowled more than anyone else and if fatigue does lead to injury, he will be the one to take care of. Australia will have a similar issue with Shane Watson, who is now their most valuable, and most overworked, cricketer. When you are playing well, tiredness is shown the door, but a touch of cotton wool for him will be handy.

Perhaps no team will sweat over one player as much as India will over Zaheer Khan. If India look a competent bowling outfit at the World Cup it is in part due to Harbhajan Singh and largely due to Zaheer. To be fair, he has handled his recent workload pretty well but his movements in the field suggest that his time as an athlete is over. The gaps in the schedule, and the occasional mismatch in the draw, are ideal for him because India will need him absolutely ready when the quarter-finals begin; when, effectively, the fear of an exit begins.

Injuries and exhaustion, though, are part of the landscape of the modern international cricketer. And while it must be heartbreaking to miss out on a World Cup, those who seek the benefits of playing more will have to, occasionally, suffer the hazards of playing more.