Schedule overload will put players at breaking point

Ricky Ponting is convinced "something will give" next year when Australia face a crammed playing itinerary that is expected to include a record-breaking 20 Tests. Australia's home schedule for 2007-08 was announced this week and Ponting is concerned about the impact of the load on his teams.

"Something will give, there is no doubt about that," Ponting said in The Australian. "Something will give somewhere along the line. Our boys have aired their opinions quite a lot over the last few years about the workload on the players.

"I totally understand how hard it is to try to fit the programming in to keep everybody happy. It's hard work. We are professional cricketers now. We have to learn how to deal with that."

The squad will get the winter off before heading to South Africa in September for the Twenty20 world championship followed by a possible tour of Zimbabwe and a one-day trip to India. Sri Lanka and India are Australia's opponents at home and then series against West Indies, Bangladesh and Pakistan are planned before New Zealand and South Africa visit.

"The more cricket you play, I am not entirely sure it becomes as enjoyable for the spectators all the time as well," Ponting said. "Maybe the series just go on a little bit too long. The anticipation is there for the start of every series, but whether it's there right the way through the series is a different thing."

Adam Gilchrist has also complained about the overload but the protests from the Australian Cricketers' Association have been ignored by Cricket Australia as it clears a backlog of fixtures created by the World Cup. "The last couple of years for us have been extremely hectic," Ponting said.

"We have managed to get through that period of time with not a lot of injuries. A lot of credit has to go to the players and staff for managing as well as they have. It's not getting any easier."