Pakistan seeks suitable gaps in FTP

to reduce cricketers’ workload

By Waheed Khan

KARACHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Executive Board members will debate upon a six-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) when they meet in Dubai from August 24, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on Wednesday.

"The debate is on extending the FTP from five to six years at these meetings," Director Cricket Operations Saleem Altaf said. There have been intensive debates regarding pressure on the players of Test-playing nations because of the currently packed FTP which allows for weaker Test-playing nations like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh a lot of exposure against stronger sides in the home and away cycle of matches.

A lot of the Test-playing nations feel that in order to reduce the workload on the players and to ensure that the standard of international cricket is not compromised the revised Future Tours Programme should give more gaps between series and also reduce the number of matches for teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Altaf said Pakistan’s position on the issue was clear —it felt there was a need to allow more breathing space to the players as a hectic FTP meant some of them faced frequent injuries and there was also pressure on the umpires.

"We would like to see a more spread out programme which allows the teams some reasonable gap between series so that the players can recover well," he added. An example of the packed FTP programme is that Pakistan play England in November and December, then India in January-February, host the Asia Cup in second half of February, tour Sri Lanka in March and then go to England in May for a long tour.

Altaf, however, refused to discuss the status of the weaker Test-playing nations in the Future Tours Programme on the basis of their recent performances and on the basis of some former Test players calling for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to be relegated from Test cricket.

Altaf, who will also be attending the meeting of the Afro-Asian Council in Durban on August 20, said it would deal mostly with Afro-Asian cricket affairs. The meeting would be held on the sidelines of the first ever Afro-Asian one-day series, which has drawn flak from some quarters due to its timing and purpose with the International Cricket Council also being criticised for giving the series official status.

"The debate is on extending the FTP from five to six years at these meetings," Director Cricket Operations Saleem Altaf said. There have been intensive debates regarding pressure on the players of Test-playing nations because of the currently packed FTP which allows for weaker Test-playing nations like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh a lot of exposure against stronger sides in the home and away cycle of matches.

This states that PCB want to make more money and gain economy increase. Well thats what I think it means. Extending the FTP could result in various unwanting outcomes. These outcomes are hard to ommit but easy to adopt.

i think they should play more cricket...how often we get to see our nation play...playing cricket is wht they do...and i think they should play more...