Joe Root recommends Changes In England's Busy Domestic Schedule

Joe Root has recommended for changes in the structure of county cricket to ensure that "players are safer" and the output of the games "is of a higher quality".

With The Hundred taking the July-August window on the summer calendar, the T20 Blast and the County Championship have been sandwiched into limited days available towards the beginning and end of the cricketing season, causing significant strain to the domestic cricketers.

A survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) found that 81% of the men's players are concerned about the physical strain from the schedule and the risk of injuries, whereas 62% are worried about the schedule's impact on mental health. About 66% of PCA members feel there's just too much domestic cricket.

No wonder the PCA called the domestic schedule "unfit for purpose" and a "disaster" in the making. Former England captain Root also offered his two cents on what exactly needs to change.

"I am extremely passionate about county cricket and it is apparent the schedule needs to change for a host of reasons to see long-lasting benefits for English cricket," Root said. "County cricket is the breeding ground for some of the best talent in the game and this requires world-leading structures to allow players to reach their full potential. This is a benefit for everybody in the game.

"We're trying to find a way of getting the standard of first-class cricket as close to the international game as we can.

"There's a large number of players that don't think the schedule is conducive to high level performance as it stands right now, we need to find a way of making that gap smaller and the product better," said Root.

"There's so much cricket and there's so much to cover. It's not always going to be perfect, we know that, but if there's any way of finding a middle ground and meeting somewhere closer to the middle where the players are safer and the output of the games is of a higher quality, then English cricket will be winning.

"Having space to recover, prepare and improve your game during the season is crucial and the creation of minimum standards to protect travel windows and player welfare is non-negotiable," he added.

Daryl Mitchell, the PCA's chief operating officer, called for a "balance" in scheduling to ensure player welfare.

"Back-to-back games have gone up considerably, and only looked at through a commercial lens," said Mitchell. "We understand that, but there needs to be a balance. There are reports of players who have got off the team bus, driven home and forgotten how they got there, almost on autopilot. We want to pre-empt it before anything disastrous happens.

Mitchell said :

"Our chief executive, Rob [Lynch] is worried about getting the call in the early hours of the morning when someone has driven off the M1. That scares us. 76% of players have concerns about safety when travelling. I don't think it needs to be a massive reduction [in number of games] but we need to create some space,".