Sutherland addresses fixture balancing act

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland says the participation of Australia's leading players in the Indian Premier League is exacerbating growing concerns about the jam-packed playing schedule.

Australia's international summer of cricket, which will feature matches against South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, gets underway in a fortnight, less than a week after the Australians returned home from a one-day series in South Africa.

Having toured New Zealand, South Africa, India, the West Indies and Sri Lanka before their ODI showdown with the Proteas, the Australians have already played a total of 44 matches – six Tests, 26 ODIs and 12 T20s – in 2016, a tally that will stretch to 52 before the year is out. It comes after the Aussies played a total of 33 matches last year and 40 in 2014.

It's led to criticism this week from batsman Usman Khawaja and former Test opener Simon Katich, currently a consultant to the Australian Cricketers’ Association, with concerns that an overload of cricket is pushing players too far and, according to Katich, jeopardising the relevance of the Australian team.

Sutherland shares concerns about the volume and context of international cricket and has long been a vocal supporter of introducing a league-style system to help rectify the situation.

He added that the decision of most of Australia's leading players to participate in the lucrative IPL, played annually in April and May when no international cricket is scheduled, only adds to the workload.

"It's interesting to hear (Katich's) comments from the players' association, but at the same time players do choose in a six-week window in the middle of the year when they are technically on holidays, they choose to play in the Indian Premier League," Sutherland said today in Melbourne.

"It's one thing to be criticising us for that, but there's a different side of that coin.

"Scheduling is something that cascades down a little bit, where what happens here in Australia is very much a function of what happens at international level.

"And there's a lot of work being done at the moment to re-vamp the structure of international cricket ... to bring more context and relevance to matches.

"Those conversations are well advanced and I think there are some exciting things in the mix there that will be good for the game."

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Katich says the ODI series in South Africa this month, which an under-strength Australian side lost 5-0, and the prospect that the T20 series against Sri Lanka in February will clash with the tour of India has underlined his concerns about the schedule.

"When there is so much cricket being played that you are handing out caps left, right and centre, it send a bad message,” Katich told News Ltd.

"It means the relevance of the Australian team is in jeopardy, especially with the prospect of two different Australian teams playing at the same time in different spots in the world next year.

"You would have to think that fans would feel short changed. If that becomes the norm for the public to be witnessing that, it can’t be a good thing."

Sutherland added that the proposed changes to the international schedule should reduce the number of matches played.

"No doubt it is a balancing act and that's something we're trying to address in this program revamp," he said.

"I think part of it is to get certain structure that allows us to lock in the amount of cricket we play, and also to structure it and coordinate it in such a way that we will probably play a little less international cricket if we get that right."

Speaking to cricket.com.au earlier this year, allrounder Mitchell Marsh said players had to weigh up the consequences of accepting an IPL contract.

The 24-year-old, who opted out of the IPL in 2014 and 2015 as he tried to establish himself in the Australian team, returned this year on a $1 million contract with new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants.

"Our schedule is unbelievably busy, but as players we choose to go to the IPL and that's our holiday time," he said in May after returning home early due to a minor side strain.

"But that's the choice that we make and I was confident that I could get through the whole IPL, but it was just one of those unfortunate things that injuries do happen."