PCA warns county cricket schedule could result in ‘disaster’ without cuts

Joe Root said: ‘If we can make the players safer and the output of the games a higher quality, English cricket is going to be winning full stop.’ Photograph: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com/Shutterstock

The Professional Cricketers Association has called for a cut in domestic cricket, warning that fixture congestion is compromising performance and could even result in “disaster” on the roads as exhausted players bounce from match to match.

Figures released by the union after a country-wide study at the start of the current season show that 81% of men’s players have concerns about the physical strain of the schedule and the heightened risk of injury, while 62% expressed similar worries about the impact on mental health. Two-thirds of PCA members believe there is too much domestic cricket, with the union calling the schedule “unfit for purpose”.