Legendary Australian pacer Jeff Thomson feels that the jam-packed schedule in recent times will force the players to take a call on whether they want to play one format or all. In recent times, several star players have already given up on one or two formats to manage their workload and extend their longevity in the game. Ben Stokes recently announced his retirement from ODIs to focus on Tests and T20Is, while India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has not played a Test match for a long time now.
Thomson, who claimed 200 Test wickets, suggested that during his era the players knew they were going to get a break from cricket but in recent times the players have a jam-packed schedule.
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“There is so much cricket. They play all year round. We didn’t do that. We used to play seasons, the summer season. Occasionally we would go to England for our winter. It was a long tour, four and a half months. But generally we just played the summer so we would gradually build up after Christmas full on. Because I knew I was going to get rest,” Thomson said on Revsportz.
He also pointed out how the times have changed regarding the players taking rests to manage their workload which was not the case during his time as they don’t play cricket all 12 months.
“Now, you can’t do that. So you have to pace yourself to be around. That’s why they have all those back up bowlers and they rest people. In our day we didn’t rest. If we had a rest someone else would take our spot. It is a matter of having to rest these days because it is a 12-month-a-year job,” he said.
Recently, premier India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has missed a lot of cricket after sustaining a back injury. He has been an all-format player for India for the past 4-5 years as the team management and selectors often give him adequate rest for the bilateral series from time to time but his recent injury has put him under the scanners once again.
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Thomson feels that Bumrah might have to take the call on whether he wants to play all the formats or opt out from one to extend his longevity.
“Well, (Bumrah) has to work out what he wants to play, short formats or Test matches or both. If I think about if I was playing now, it would be very hard for me to play Test matches. Especially, when you get so much money in the short version of the game which just makes your longevity better. We didn’t have to think about money in our days because there was no money. Now it’s a huge business. The only one who is going to look after you is yourself. So, you got to work out how long I am going to play for and how am I going to manage that because no one else is going to. I think you have to be more cunning these days in terms of workload and watch what you got to play. If you are good enough, they are going to pick you any way so you should be able to pull the strings,” he said.
“I think it is the crowd that decides that. They know how good he is. If he doesn’t want to play Test cricket that is a bit of a blow but if he plays in a T20, they will turn up to watch him. What I am telling you is that if a guy limited himself to that, he is going to be playing for longer,” he said.
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