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President International Cricket Council (ICC) Ehsan Mani has urged national boards to be more sensitive to the issue of player burnout concerns while drawing up international schedules.

However, he said the ICC could not impose any upper limit on matches as demanded by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) because some boards had financial interests and others played more games in special series such as the Ashes.

“The ICC doesn’t set a maximum limit because we can’t tell people whether they can play five Tests in a series or three,” Mani said in a telephone interview on Saturday. “(But) players with niggling injuries don’t want to lose their places in the side and will play with those injuries and can aggravate them.

“These sort of things, the boards have to be very, very careful and sympathetic with,” he said.

Mani will step down after three years as the ICC chief next week, handing over to South Africa’s Percy Sonn.

Many top players have complained about the packed schedule and Tim May, the FICA Chief Executive, dubbed the six-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) a “disaster”.

However, Mani said: “It would be wrong, for example, to be strict and say to England and Australia ‘you can’t play the Ashes every four years and you can’t play five Test matches and you can play only three’.”

On other issues, he was hopeful about the revival of crisis-ridden Zimbabwe, whose Test status remains suspended until February due to a depleted squad following a major dispute between the players and the national board. —ReutersNEW DELHI: President International Cricket Council (ICC) Ehsan Mani has urged national boards to be more sensitive to the issue of player burnout concerns while drawing up international schedules.

However, he said the ICC could not impose any upper limit on matches as demanded by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) because some boards had financial interests and others played more games in special series such as the Ashes.

“The ICC doesn’t set a maximum limit because we can’t tell people whether they can play five Tests in a series or three,” Mani said in a telephone interview on Saturday. “(But) players with niggling injuries don’t want to lose their places in the side and will play with those injuries and can aggravate them.

“These sort of things, the boards have to be very, very careful and sympathetic with,” he said.

Mani will step down after three years as the ICC chief next week, handing over to South Africa’s Percy Sonn.

Many top players have complained about the packed schedule and Tim May, the FICA Chief Executive, dubbed the six-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) a “disaster”.

However, Mani said: “It would be wrong, for example, to be strict and say to England and Australia ‘you can’t play the Ashes every four years and you can’t play five Test matches and you can play only three’.”

On other issues, he was hopeful about the revival of crisis-ridden Zimbabwe, whose Test status remains suspended until February due to a depleted squad following a major dispute between the players and the national board.
Source:The News