Lloyd voices concerns at fixture pile-up

Clive Lloyd has voiced his concern at the fixure overload facing England's cricketers next summer. Only two weeks separate the end of their tour of the Caribbean and the first of seven summer Tests, against New Zealand at Lord's.

"There could be a happy medium made with sponsors and television to allow everything to fit in," said Lloyd, a veteran of 110 Tests in an 18-year career, and currently an ICC match referee. "You need enough space in between to cope with injuries and so on. It should not be as cluttered a schedule as they have had in the last few years. I think it should allow two months off between tours so when you come back you are refreshed, you have had a rest and are ready to go."

Weather permitting, England could be on the field for 45 days out of 106, should they reach the final of the ten-match triangular NatWest Series as well. The schedule-squeezing was necessary to enable England to host the ICC Champions Trophy, which will take place in mid-to-late September.

Three sets of back-to-back Tests will be particularly hard on the players, and Lloyd pointed to the case this summer of Steve Harmison, who withdrew from the fourth Test at Headingley with a calf injury. "Harmison might have been able to play with more rest and made a difference because he would have extracted a little bit more bounce than the other bowlers," he said. "Really and truly England could have won that Test match if they had him.

"You might lose vital players because a niggling injury needs five days' recovery time instead of three," Lloyd added. "And teams can't risk an individual because the opposition can refuse a substitute in such circumstances."

The problem is not limited to England: South Africa will have had just eight days at home if their tour of Pakistan gets underway as planned. "It is a bit of a ridiculous schedule," said Graeme Smith. "But you're wearing the country's badge on your chest and you have to pick yourself up mentally and physically."