Michael Atherton slams cricket’s hectic scheduling; says sport is ‘devouring itself’ | Cricket News

Former England cricketer-turned-commentator Michael Atherton has lamented the amount of cricket that is played now-a-days which he says is leading to fans feeling dazed at what series and tournament are important and which are not.
After the Cricket World Cup, hosted India ended last month, some teams are already playing in their second series. The Indian cricket team, which lost the final to Australia at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on November 19, played Australia in a short T20I series at home, which started less than 100 hours after the final.
Many Australian players played a handful of matches before flying off home with an eye on the series against Pakan that started today. India, on the other hand, flew to South Africa for a long series that includes three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests. India will then play series ta home against Afghanan and England.
“The one overriding feeling for me is the schedule. More and more people I talk to — this maybe a reflection of the type of people I talk to or the age of people I talk to — they say to me that just cannot follow it. It’s too much! We cannot work out who’s playing where, what’s important. It’s everything coming together! Three forms of international cricket and then the franchise cricket put on top or underneath. And then an ICC event every year! Since 2019, we’ve had four World Cups in five years!” Atherton said on Sky Sports.
He went on to add: “That’s the thing that still stands out to me in the men’s game: just the overriding complexity! Cricket seems to be devouring itself! It’s very hard for supporters to keep on top of everything.”
Not just the fans, cricketers too have lashed out about the amount of breakneck cricket they’re having to play.
Seven Australian cricketers had initially stayed back for the T20I series against India after the World Cup. Then five players flew back after a couple of games.
Mitchell Marsh, who chose to skip the T20 series, had lambasted the scheduling, calling it “outrageous”.
“The boys have just won a World Cup and probably deserve to celebrate… you would hope there’s not too many of those series put on after big tournaments again,” he had said.
Australia captain Pat Cummins went on to add that players were “not robots”.
“They’re humans, they’re not robots,” Cummins had told reporters at Sydney Cricket Ground. “Putting everything into a World Cup and then playing a couple of days later — I probably don’t begrudge them if they’re not at 100 percent.”
He went on then play down his words, saying: “These are still games for Australia and it’s great that these tours do provide opportunities for some of the younger guys, or guys who might not be in the first eleven. I think these are important tours and you can get a lot out of them.”