Players' association wants lighter Twenty20 load

Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive, says international players are "already at breaking point" despite plans to add a Twenty20 World Championship to the schedule. An invitational tournament is expected to be held next year before an all-teams event in 2009 in England, the home of the game.

Marsh said in The Australian the short form should be kept as a way of generating interest at domestic level. "The current international players are already at breaking point with regards to the volume of cricket," Marsh told the paper. "To introduce another event on top of the already ridiculously hectic schedule places further strains on our elite players."

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, told the paper Australia would play at the invitational event and said it was unlikely to increase the workload due to the revised six-year touring schedule. "We had one [Twenty20 international] last season and we'll have one next season, but we already have very successful Test and one-day cricket," Sutherland said.

"It has been very successful down a level. We want to grow and establish that level before flooding the international market with Twenty20. We don't want to cannibalise the game."