Players ‘exhausted’ by ‘unrelenting’ schedule – ECB chief

Cricket must “look at the schedule” of a “unrelenting” calendar, with some players “obviously exhausted” this summer, says England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Richard Thompson.

This year’s Hundred competition got under way the day after a thrilling England men’s Test series against India finished, with some players missing the opening round of games.

“Cricket arguably does play too much,” Thompson told BBC Sport.

England batters Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith have been rested from the ongoing T20 series against South Africa, less than six months before a World Cup in the format.

Both they and Harry Brook have played all 15 international fixtures to date for England this summer, along with the Hundred last month.

England drew the Test series against India 2-2, and Thompson accepts the closely fought contest took its toll.

The series began on 20 June and ended on 4 August, with all five Test matches lasting five days.

“I’m not surprised some of the players were obviously exhausted… I can’t ever remember a five-Test series going five days in every Test,” Thompson said.

“This was a one-off in the sense of ensuring the players actually had the ability to get to the end of it. But yes, there were some creaking bodies.

“We have to look at the schedule. We’re reducing the number of T20 Blast games we’re playing. We’re looking to potentially reduce the amount of Championship cricket.”

In July, research by players’ union the PCA found 83% of players expressed concerns about their physical wellbeing, with 67% concerned about their mental wellbeing because of the volume and intensity of domestic cricket. It demanded “urgent schedule reform”.

Teams will play two fewer games in the group stages of the Blast from next year, reducing the number of matches from 14 to 12, with counties yet to decide how to revamp the championship.

Some of the Hundred’s new investors have made clear they expect their England players to be available throughout next year’s competition. Next year the Hundred is set to start two days after a one-day international (ODI) series against India and three days before the first Test against Pakistan.

Thompson says scheduling more space either side of the event will have to wait until 2028 when the next TV rights cycle starts.

“This Hundred investment has come when we’re actually in the middle of a rights path that we can’t change. So we’re only three years away from being able to ensure there is a gap at the beginning and end of that period, so there isn’t a situation where the players are exhausted.”

Just two days after the end of this year’s Hundred, an unprepared England began their ODI contest against South Africa, and a 2-1 defeat means they have lost five of their past six series in the format since the 2023 World Cup.

“Whether it’s in 50-over format or T20 format, we have a World Cup every year, so we have an exam to sit that does put white-ball players actually under more pressure,” said Thompson.

Last month the government pledged £1.5m for two new indoor sport domes in Luton and Lancashire. Thompson says the ECB wants to build 40 of the facilities to improve opportunities in towns and cities for state-school children to play all year round, and make the sport more inclusive.

When asked if the £520m generated by the sale of stakes in the eight Hundred franchises to private investors would help, Thompson said: “The Hundred windfall is as much to wipe out the debt of the game… £50m will be going to grassroots.”

Cindy Butts, the chair of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC), whose landmark 2023 report concluded that the English game was elitist, racist and sexist, has said the ECB made a “mistake” in not committing to making participation in the county talent pathway free of charge.

But Thompson said: “I think in terms of where we’re investing, this is a far better use of our money… the pathway is significantly subsidised wherever we can do that.

“But this is really the game-changing moment for the game. I believe that cricket is going into a golden era, and for it to be that, you need somewhere for kids to come and play. The [T20] Women’s World Cup next year is going to activate a lot of interest. That’s why it’s so important we can soak that interest up.”

When asked whether enough had been done to make the English game more inclusive since the 2023 ICEC report, Thompson said: “We’ve made a huge amount of progress in the last two years to get there, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Inclusivity is a very broad term, it’s not just race… anybody that wants to play cricket can and should be able to play cricket, and that’s the ambition.