Filed under: Cricket, England Cricket, World Cup, ODIs
Andy Flower has won his battle with England's cricket administrators and won a reduction in the amount of cricket his squad are forced to play in the future.Flower is not a man to make excuses and he is probably one of the hardest task masters in the international game - but finally the ECB have recognised they are flogging their Ashes winners too much in their quest to climb to the summit of the ICC world rankings.
ECB managing director Hugh Morris admitted on BBC Radio 5 live there had been too much cricket played this winter for a squad that has been on the road since October 29.
He has revealed there will be a reduction in the number of ODI games played in future series between England and Australia and the World Cup and the Ashes will no longer be played for in the same year.
"Going forward, we have agreed we won't be playing seven one-day games, we will be playing five and the World Cup and the Ashes won't be played in the same year," said Morris.
"What we want to do with the schedule is get the balance right and clearly this winter it simply hasn't happened."
Flower said before the World Cup commenced that the schedule his players have been put through with their 3-1 Ashes win and a 6-1 defeat in a seven-game series against Australia was too much - given the players only had three days at home before flying to Bangladesh for warm-up games ahead of the World Cup.
Paul Collingwood, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan have all suffered injuries as a result of the ridiculous schedule.
No wonder national selector Geoff Miller was complaining recently about the number of games England are being asked to play.
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If anyone doubted the need for a break the performance Morgan gave in Chittagong against Bangladesh was the perfect example of a cricketer refreshed.
He had been home for almost three weeks recovering from a fractured finger and had barely picked up a bat. The escape from the constant treadmill of netting and fielding practice was obvious for all to see.
Morgan was a cricketer with a clear mind and revitalised limbs and his fresh appearance was in stark contrast to his creaking team mates, who BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said "looked as though they had had enough."
Rather like the national football team, England supporters do not want to hear excuses made for poor performances. No one wants to know about schedules, fatigue, poor training facilities, or anything else for that matter, apart from results.
But while England know they have let themselves down against Ireland and Bangladesh, they also know that it will be close to five months of being on the road by the time they get home from the World Cup finals.
Whatever the shortcomings of the team, no side can be expected to win the World Cup after a calendar like that.
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