Modern day players should not complain about 'burnout', says Botham

Modern day players may be moaning about their supposedly excessive workload, but England legend Sir Ian Botham feels the current bunch of international cricketers play far less than earlier generations.

The former all-rounder has dismissed talk of 'burnout' by members of the current England squad and believes that they do not have any right to complain since current national team regulars hardly play any domestic matches while earlier generations used to take part in county cricket alongside their international duties.

''Analyse the days of cricket these boys play in a year as opposed to the guys who used to play county cricket as well as international cricket and went on tours lasting four months.

''If you are worried about burnout in your second year then that's pretty sad,'' Botham said.

''I suggest you get on and play. Winning teams don't get burnout. This burnout is just a modern word,'' he added.

The England squad is currently in South Africa where they are scheduled to play two Twenty20s, five one-day internationals and four Tests, in addition to warm-up games.

They will then embark for a tour of Bangladesh before travelling to the West Indies for the World Twenty20 in April-May next year.

After returning from the Carribean, they will hardly get a chance to catch their breath before facing Bangladesh and Pakistan in successive home series.

But Botham said the players should have little cause for complaints considering the amount of money they are being paid.

''If you don't want to play international cricket, do you want to go back and play county cricket? I doubt it. You have got the best end of the stick and you get well rewarded,'' the former England captain told mediapersons yesterday.

However, the 53-years-old former right-armer refused to read much into the recent upsurge of T20 cricket and feels that the authorities should keep a lid on the number of matches being played in order to keep public interest alive.

''It's a great game for county cricket. It draws in the youngsters. But look at the viewing figures for some of the Twenty20 tournaments and they have plummeted.

''I don't read much into Twenty20s. They shouldn't be played internationally,'' he said.

''If you watch your favourite film every day of the week it soon becomes your least favourite film.

''That is the problem. It is just pure greed from the authorities.

Nothing else. They are very likely to kill the goose which lays the golden egg. Twenty20 should be played once every four years in a World Cup format,'' Botham added.

-- (UNI) -- 11SPD38.xml

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