By Tony Becca - On The Boundary TEST CRICKET is no longer the spectacle it used to be, but for a few brilliant performances here and there, it drifts from one day to another, because of the lack of the kind of skill that excite, fans no longer turn out to admire the skills of players but simply to cheer their team, that is why there are so many empty seats, and according to England's captain Nasser Hussain, the reason is because players are no longer enjoying the game.
Why are players no longer enjoying the game? According to Hussain, it is because there is too much cricket - because players are now jumping from one series to another and that is taking away some of the pleasure of playing the game.
"Ultimately it's the International Cricket Conference to decide on the fixtures," said Hussain recently, "but we must not forget that cricket is a game ... it's not a business where you schedule as many games as possible and suck the money out of the game."
Hussain is right. Apart from the attitude of some players who do not prepare themselves properly or who do not believe that as professionals that they have an obligation to perform - to try to perform, each time they go out to play, the schedule is such that the players must be tired. There is no time to rest, to recharge the batteries, so to speak, and to come again.
On top of that, with the muscles getting no time to rest, such a schedule can lead to injury.
Unlike days gone by when teams play one or two series per year and were always fresh and ready to go, they are now playing three and four series per year plus one-day internationals, the result is that cricketers are now playing cricket 10 to 11 months of the year, most of that time they are on the road - away from home and their families, and apart from hurting physically, that must have an effect on their ability to consistently perform at their best.
That is why some teams now allow wives on tour for short periods, that is why Australia, for example, allowed their players to take a brief holiday during the ICC Champions Trophy tournament now in its final stage in Sri Lanka, and that is why the West Indies Board must now be saying, I told you so.
When the ICC tabled its 10-year fixtures a couple years ago, the West Indies Board, represented by then president Pat Rousseau, vice-president Clarvis Joseph and chief executive officer Stephen Camacho, opposed it - and they opposed it on the grounds that it was too much cricket and that it would affect the game.
As a player, Hussain must know what he is talking about, as administrators, Rousseau, Joseph and Camacho, knew what they were talking about, and if the ICC is not prepared to listen to Hussain just as they were not prepared to listen the West Indies Board, it should listen to Sepp Blatter - president of football's FIFA.
When it comes to saturation, cricket is no different from football, and Blatter was quoted recently in "France Football" - a French Magazine - as saying that too much football is hurting the game.
After talking about supply and demand, about the number of matches being played these days, and about the stars who went to the recent World Cup in Japan and South Korea tired or injured and did not perform, Blatter said that as well as sparing fans from over-exposure, cutting the number of matches would reduce the risk of player injury and make the game better.
"You can't play 80 matches a year," said the FIFA boss. "Those who play too much get injured or are no good."
