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[jamferg]

I do not like the term rested. if you are not performing then you are dropped.. why do some players appear immune from this?

prior played with an injury so either lied when asked whether he was fit enough to play or told cook who went with his mate anyway... both culpable

[steyn92]

Think Buttler will go well in test matches anyone?

[MD2812]

i just found some numbers on Cricinfo as how many tests all the countries are playing since 2011 to current (3 years) . List as follows

1. Aus - 37
2. Eng - 37
3.NZ  - 30
4. SRI - 29
5. Ind -28
6. SA - 27
7.WI - 25
8.PAK -22
9.BD - 15
10.Zim -10

I do see that the top 4 (infact top 6) countries have played almost same number of tests(not exact in number). How come only England Players suffer from burnouts? Also no disrespect to trott or thresco (Do understand they had serious illness), I think the ECB and the players should get their priorities straight. Also I guess ECB has the highest backstaff out of all other countries but couldn't they help the players with their issues?

Doesnt give a full picture though. The below list I've taken the top 10 bowlers (by overs bowled) for 2014, 2013 and 2012 and then merged them together. It's a bit messy, but the amount of overs bowled by Englands 2 main bowlers is staggeringly higher than any other team. The fact we have played all of these teams throughout this period as well. This isn't a post of excuses for the England bowlers, more pointing out the fact of the bad situation ECB has England in!

2012-2014         
Player   Mat   Inns   Overs
JM Anderson (Eng)   33   63   1339.2
SCJ Broad   30   55   1122.7
PM Siddle (Aus)   22   42   795.4
DW Steyn (SA)   19   37   737.9
TA Boult (NZ)   17   31   613
VD Philander (SA)   17   33   606.2
TG Southee   13   25   507.5
N Wagner (NZ)   10   18   373
M Morkel (SA)   10   19   360.5
BW Hilfenhaus (Aus)   9   17   338.3
RJ Harris (Aus)   8   16   304.5
TT Bresnan (Eng)   8   12   287
DJG Sammy (WI)   10   19   287
DAJ Bracewell (NZ)   10   19   281.4
KAJ Roach (WI)   7   14   266.3
RMS Eranga (SL)   7   13   262.5
RAS Lakmal (SL)   6   12   235.4
MA Starc (Aus)   6   11   209.3
I Sharma (India)   4   7   191
LE Plunkett (Eng)   4   8   186.5
Mohammed Shami (India)   4   7   158.5

[TangoWhiskey]

Doesnt give a full picture though. The below list I've taken the top 10 bowlers (by overs bowled) for 2014, 2013 and 2012 and then merged them together. It's a bit messy, but the amount of overs bowled by Englands 2 main bowlers is staggeringly higher than any other team. The fact we have played all of these teams throughout this period as well. This isn't a post of excuses for the England bowlers, more pointing out the fact of the bad situation ECB has England in!

2012-2014         
Player   Mat   Inns   Overs
JM Anderson (Eng)   33   63   1339.2
SCJ Broad   30   55   1122.7
PM Siddle (Aus)   22   42   795.4
DW Steyn (SA)   19   37   737.9
TA Boult (NZ)   17   31   613
VD Philander (SA)   17   33   606.2
TG Southee   13   25   507.5
N Wagner (NZ)   10   18   373
M Morkel (SA)   10   19   360.5
BW Hilfenhaus (Aus)   9   17   338.3
RJ Harris (Aus)   8   16   304.5
TT Bresnan (Eng)   8   12   287
DJG Sammy (WI)   10   19   287
DAJ Bracewell (NZ)   10   19   281.4
KAJ Roach (WI)   7   14   266.3
RMS Eranga (SL)   7   13   262.5
RAS Lakmal (SL)   6   12   235.4
MA Starc (Aus)   6   11   209.3
I Sharma (India)   4   7   191
LE Plunkett (Eng)   4   8   186.5
Mohammed Shami (India)   4   7   158.5

Isn't it more of a situation that England haven't had a good enough 3rd seamer to control the game? Finn was great but expensive, Stokes expensive, Jordan expensive. Only Bresnan could exert control and they bowled him into breaking his back.

[Shortpitch]

Nice MD, this gives more insight in to what ENG cricket is going through. Hope they give enough rest to seamers before world cup starts next year.

[smilley792]

Bresnan in that list! Never rated him at test level. But it is intriguing to see him not even mentioned since Moores took over, yet was seemingly always in when fit under flower.





Also trott just got his ton! When's he gonna be mentioned as a comeback for the three lions?

[uknsaunders]

I wonder how long Steyn will keep going. It's not his test overs that worry me but he plays a pretty major part in the IPL as well as t20/odi cricket (though SA do rest him for some games).

Anderson and Broad workloads:-

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/15/the-spin-james-anderson
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/10869922/Through-blood-sweat-and-tears-Stuart-Broad-has-given-his-all-for-England-we-take-him-for-granted.html

[Jenko]

It's crazy how many more games/overs Anderson and Broad have played/bowled compared to everyone else between 2012-2014.

[TangoWhiskey]

It's crazy how many more games/overs Anderson and Broad have played/bowled compared to everyone else between 2012-2014.

It's mainly by virtue of playing a couple more matches. Anderson bowls on average 40 odd overs per match, Broad bowls 37 odd overs per match, Steyn bowls 38.8 overs per match. Harris bowls 38 odd overs for example and Siddle bowls 36.5 overs a match. In contrast Plunkett has bowled nearly 47 overs per match and Ishant Sharma nearly 48.

[tim2000s]

I can sympathise with the pain these guys have gone through. I've never played anywhere near as much cricket, but even then, 20+ years at an amateur level produces plenty of injuries and dependencies on Anti-Inflammatories.

Still, the damage that they've done to their bodies is huge!

And they're still doing it. It's not hard to understand why not bowling flat out consistently has become common place. With that workload, both Anderson and Broad must be totally exhausted...

It also makes you wonder about the lack of runs that the English batsmen have been scoring and the limited strike power of the back up bowlers that has resulted in these two bowling so much...

[TangoWhiskey]

I can sympathise with the pain these guys have gone through. I've never played anywhere near as much cricket, but even then, 20+ years at an amateur level produces plenty of injuries and dependencies on Anti-Inflammatories.

Still, the damage that they've done to their bodies is huge!

And they're still doing it. It's not hard to understand why not bowling flat out consistently has become common place. With that workload, both Anderson and Broad must be totally exhausted...

It also makes you wonder about the lack of runs that the English batsmen have been scoring and the limited strike power of the back up bowlers that has resulted in these two bowling so much...

See my above post. They don't bowl so much, they just play more games.

[tim2000s]

See my above post. They don't bowl so much, they just play more games.

They play more games because the other options aren't good enough, and therefore bowl more. This reduces their rest periods, and lets look at Harris for a moment. He's bowled slightly fewer games and yet has broken down a number of times as his body struggles with the work load.

It's the lack of rest that's the problem.

[TangoWhiskey]

They play more games because the other options aren't good enough, and therefore bowl more. This reduces their rest periods, and lets look at Harris for a moment. He's bowled slightly fewer games and yet has broken down a number of times as his body struggles with the work load.

It's the lack of rest that's the problem.

You'd pick your best side though surely? You don't see Dale Steyn getting rested if South Africa play a couple of back to back series? The problem is a too heavy schedule for the players. I personally would like to watch more test cricket but this is the balance the games organisers need to strike.

[Buzz]

After the India series we don't have a winter tour for the first time in years - the next series will be in the West Indies in April.

Here is another question - how many of the team will be going under the knife in September/October time???!

[TangoWhiskey]

After the India series we don't have a winter tour for the first time in years - the next series will be in the West Indies in April.

Here is another question - how many of the team will be going under the knife in September/October time???!

I read in that Guardian article that someone posted earlier that Broad has never had an operation.