Hohns will not stop county stints

Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, will not tell Australia's international players to avoid taking up English county contracts to limit their workloads. Rest has been a key issue of the current season following VB Series breaks for Gilchrist, Ponting and McGrath, but Hohns is confident the year-round performers won't suffer burnout.

"Our key players, they know that anyway, it's really up to them," Hohns said in The Age. "Short stints at county cricket can do some blokes good, the bowlers in particular can get themselves going early in the season."

Hohns said he could not tell the players what to do when considering county contracts. "All I can do is indicate to them what our thoughts are and what we think is in their best interests and assess each individual on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Shane Warne has been a regular at Hampshire over the past couple of seasons, but two of his team-mates - Michael Clarke and Simon Katich - are not returning to the Rose Bowl this year and Shane Watson is not sure. Michael Hussey and Brad Hodge plan northern summers, but most of the high-profile players are staying at home for winter.

The Age reported Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Stuart MacGill, Andrew Symonds and Glenn McGrath were due to rest in the off-season. Shaun Tait, the South Australia fast bowler, wants to make sure he is fully fit after suffering a shoulder injury, but Phil Jaques, Dan Cullen, Cameron White and Mick Lewis are heading to the counties.