Cramped itineraries root cause of burnout, says Woolmer

LONDON: Joining the controversy over player burnout, Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has said cramped itineraries were the root cause of increasing number of injuries and breakdowns to cricketers.

"Modern cricket itineraries are the root cause of players becoming burnt out and consequently several key performers are suffering from serious injuries," the Englishman said.

"It is not so much the amount of cricket they are asked to play as the fact that one Test match is following hard on one that has just finished. Itineraries are congested and it is the players (and the spectators), not the bookkeepers, who suffer. This is a problem that has to be addressed sooner rather than later," he wrote in his column for The Times.

"In conjunction with back-to-back Test matches, a five-match series of one-day internationals piles added pressure on to the players."

On the Test series with England which commences on Thursday, Woolmer said touring in the modern era was a thankless task.

"A three-day match against Leicestershire, a one-day bash in Scotland, a four-day fixture against England A at Canterbury and a Twenty20 slog, irrelevant to the longer form of the game, has been the sum total of Pakistan's preparation before the first Test."

Woolmer also criticised some of the facilities on offer to the Pakistan team.

"It is strange that in these modern times and hot weather some hotels in England do not possess air conditioning or fridges," he remarked.