Joe Root says a greater focus on player welfare is "non-negotiable" amid an increasingly crowded fixture list after a survey by the Professional Cricketers' Association revealed a staggering 81 per cent of county cricketers fear for their physical health due to the season-long workload.
The survey, conducted in the pre-season across all 18 counties, has prompted the PCA to brand the current fixture list "not fit for purpose", particularly due to the stark issues surrounding matchday travel, leading to calls for an urgent rethink by the ECB and county chiefs to "pre-empt disaster".
More than eight out of 10 county cricketers admitted they were concerned for their well-being as a result of a busy season, while as many as 76 per cent said they were worried about safety when travelling to and from matches during the season, particularly during the Vitality Blast when teams finish late and play the next day. There will be 55 back-to-back T20s this year, up from 34 last year.
Perhaps the starkest example is Gloucestershire, who play a T20 against Glamorgan in Cardiff on 20 June before returning to Bristol to host Somerset the following day. They then take on Yorkshire at Scarborough on 23 June after a one-day break.
While teams usually travel by bus, problems arise when players drive themselves home, often in the early hours of the morning. The PCA revealed it had to intervene when it discovered one county was using player-driven minibuses last season. The county is understood to have stopped the practice.
PCA Chief Operating Officer Daryl Mitchell said:
"Over 10 per cent of our membership accessed our mental health services last year. It's difficult to get away from the pressure of professional but I think the relentless schedule is a factor. There's reports of players who have got off the team bus, driven home and forgotten how they got there, almost on autopilot. Switching off while driving has an element of danger. We want to pre-empt it before anything disastrous happens.”
As well as calling for a minimum standard of three days between four-dayers and at least one day's rest between T20s, 66 per cent of respondents believe the current schedule is not conducive to high performance.
This sentiment was echoed by Root, who believes that change will bring "lasting benefits to English cricket". Despite being protected from the schedule as a centrally contracted England cricketer, Root plays five matches for Yorkshire in the County Championship.
The PCA's findings and call for action come at a crucial time in English cricket, with the County Partnership Agreement - the agreement between the ECB, PCA and counties - up for renewal. This week, the counties and the MCC are also expected to agree to the ECB's proposals for private investment in the Hundred, which could raise around £500 million for the domestic game. All of this is leading up to the next broadcast cycle, which begins in 2025.
The Hundred remains the elephant in the room when it comes to fixture congestion, particularly with the Blast. This year's eight-team competition has ring-fenced July and the first three weeks of August, with no Blast fixtures and just three days of championship cricket in that period.
While acknowledging the value of the Hundred and the importance of matchday revenue to clubs at a time when county finances are precarious, Mitchell has called for more collaboration between the boards and stakeholders in their decision-making. A more altruistic approach is needed to ensure that players, and by extension the game, are better protected in the future.
The ECB said in a statement issued in response to the PCA survey:
"As the PCA recognises, the men's domestic schedule is a complex issue. The players have an important voice in discussions around this, and we are committed to working with them and the First Class Counties to discuss the best ways of overcoming some of the challenges."