Secret Cricketer: Serious consequences are in store because of dangerous cricket schedule

As the ECB announce that there will not be a change to the domestic structure next season, the Secret Cricketer blows the lid on the players frustration and warns of serious consequences because of the “dangerous schedule”.

Why haven’t the ECB and counties listened? Why is the structure the same next season? What will it take for the domestic game to change in this country?

With a crazy schedule, it’s one game after another, long drive after long drive after long day. Driving home one night, I fell asleep at the wheel. I found myself in a different lane. I got lucky. I’m not the only one, I know so many people that have nodded off. I heard of someone riding the middle barrier.

Players and support staff up and down the country have experienced it and nothing has been done about it.

Whether it’s a microsleep or it’s a lane change - that is the scary one – enough of us have experienced it and something should have changed before something serious happens.

One of England’s national captains, Eoin Morgan, very early this summer warned everyone that this schedule could become “dangerous”.

The ECB and counties haven’t listened and I ask again: why? What will it take?

It is dangerous and it’s a miracle that no one has paid the biggest price of all, yet.

If they’re not going to change the amount of cricket they have to somehow manage the fixture list so that there’s time in it to rest and recover, and maybe some time to get into the gym and train.

With this schedule there’s no time for it and we’re seeing in this last month so many injuries because guys are not fit enough or strong enough to get into the gym. They’re too tired. Exhausted.

The Professional Cricketers’ Association survey overwhelmingly asked for fewer games and two blocks of limited-overs cricket.

The 50-over One Day Cup this season was the most maligned competition while the majority of players were happy with the 16 game County Championship.

But I’d drop to 14 games - 12 would be perfect, but that’s just not going to happen. That saves eight days a season and even with that you’d see less injuries now for sure. You’ve got six of those eight days that you’d spend a morning in the gym, the afternoon on the couch, and I think it would change a lot.

It’s not the actual games that are the problem - it’s the travel in between them. I don’t think that a mystery. Four and a half days of cricket per seven day week; that’s not bad, that’s fine across a whole season. But when you add a four hour drive and then another three hours somewhere else after the game, it’s the amount of travel in between and the games being close together - that drains the players the most.

Physically and mentally it is dangerous and the lack of concentration, because of fatigue, leads to not just poor performance but also can lead to injuries too. It means you’re a fraction off. It means you’re behind the play, and it means you’re going to get hit - you’re going to get hurt.

This is serious enough that I think most county players will take a slight pay cut to take a small percentage off the playing requirements.

It’s the players and their remuneration against broadcasters and fans. The Friday nights bring in more fans and more money so if you take that away then revenues go down. But I think players will accept that. They’ll certainly take a pay freeze at least while over the coming years revenues inevitably increase from TV deals over the same period. The quality of cricket will certainly increase.

Put the Twenty20 in a block, spread the 50-over competition across the season and drop two championship games.

Just like all the other leading cricketing competitions around the world, the Twenty20 will end up in a block in this country. Either it will be the counties maintaining their status as the only Twenty20 product in this country or it will be a franchise/city based, competition.

So counties, if they want to keep their T20 cricket, better get on board with a block competition, or they’ll lose it completely to another system.

The main reason being that they will be able to strike the TV deal and they will be the ones bringing in the world’s best players. Either way, the number one Twenty20 competition in this country will end up in a block.

Just spread the 50-over out and not the Twenty20. Travelling in a block for Twenty20 is far more manageable as is travelling across the season for List-A cricket around the Championship fixtures.

The PCA survey asked for specific blocks for each format - that’s the dream scenario but if it’s not possible then the above proposal is much more palatable.

Even if it means 16 Championship games next season they can’t put the 50-over into a short block again. However they can block off the Twenty20 for the players in the short term and perhaps for their own benefit looking a little further down the road.

Doing nothing is not an option though.