'The FTP is a Disaster'

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) new schedule for international cricket has been labelled a disaster that will leave the world's leading players exhausted.

Tim May, the chief executive of FICA, the Federation of International Cricketers? Associations, says: "The FTP is a disaster because it puts no upper limit on the amount of cricket that can be scheduled. There are five or six guys in the five leading sides in the world who play Tests and ODIs and they are being flogged."

"They are the ones who make the difference between a 10,000 crowd and a sell-out; they are the ones who the broadcasters and commercial partners pay for. They are exhausted and they are not going to take much more,? he warns in an interview with the July issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine.

May's threat is explicit: "The militancy of the players depends on the issue but, if there is anything that will force the players to take the ultimate step of industrial action, it's the Future Tours Programme. I'm not saying it is about to happen but all the ICC has delivered is a minimum guideline for the amount of cricket. There is nothing to stop individual boards arranging extra series on top of that in the FTP. We understand it?s already happening. It is a mess."

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and India's cricket authorities are in advanced stages of discussions for a series of ODIs to be played in North America, outside of the ICC's FTP.

He goes as far as mentioning the possibility of players turning to drugs to maintain the punishing year-round commitments that he calls the "play-travel-play-travel-play-fall over" schedule.

"You only have to look at the doping record in baseball to see that recovery, not enhanced power, is the motivation for most drug misuse. The more we push our players the more they might look at options."

Seven of the 10 Test-playing nations now have player associations affiliated to FICA and May expects the remaining three -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and crucially India -- to have signed up if not by the start of the Champions Trophy in October, then soon after.

The responsibility for limiting extra series lies with individual boards, as ICC regulations require only two Tests and three ODIs to constitute a series. But, if boards do not listen to the players ? and recognition of unions is still a moot point in several countries ? then ICC tournaments will suffer.

May says players, obliged to play in matches endorsed by national boards, will miss ICC events they are not contracted to play to cut down the workload.