ECB Boss Slams Cricket’s Packed Schedule: ‘Only Sport With A World Cup Every Year’ | Cricket News

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman, Rob Thompson, was strongly critical of cricket’s progressively packed schedule and the impact it’s having on player welfare. Thompson pointed to how it’s the only sport with a World Cup every year, which was ‘too much’.

Till 2007, cricket just had the quadrennial World Cup in the ODI format and bilaterals and smaller trophy series in ODIs and Tests. What is now known as the T20 World Cup was initially introduced as a less serious ‘World T20’. Now, with the return of the Champions Trophy and the ICC World Test Championship final every two years, there aren’t too many years without a big-ticket ICC event.

“Cricket arguably does play too much,” Thompson told BBC Sport. “We’re the only sport to have a World Cup every year, which I personally think is too much.”

Recently, Stuart Broad pointed out how England players looked visibly tired in the series against South Africa, pointing to the gruelling Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with five-day action in all five Tests.

“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. 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,” Thompson added.

Meanwhile, the Hundred, the ECB’s premier 100-ball franchise competition, looks set to be unaffected by the reduction of matches. In fact, the competition has recently picked up massive investments from India and around the world, and the new owners are reportedly asking for the ECB to ensure better player availability.

“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. 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.