Thursday, February 21, 2002 When a side gets bundled out for 89, as England did at Wellington last week, it is hard to know how best to address the problem. I've generally preferred to sleep on a bad performance, and tackle it in the morning with a clear head. Very occasionally, I have taken the team to task in the aftermath of the game.

Nasser Hussain, in his recent tour diary, decided to pin the blame on the ICC fixture list. Is it the travelling – is it too much cricket full stop? – that makes a side perform so flatly one day, and then become world-beaters the next? That attitude, however, misses the crux of the issue.

The ICC has a huge sum of money from the global cricket corporation, World Sports Group, to promote, develop and publicise the game. In return every country has to play as much cricket as possible to recoup this money. The deal has been struck, the fixture list is in place, and it is over to the teams and players to decide how best to cope.

It is very reminiscent of the early days of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket in the 1970s. All of a sudden we were being paid up to five times as much as we had ever earned from cricket before, and we learnt very quickly that we had to work for it. Instead of relaxing on our days off, we often took part in quiz shows at the supermarket or appeared in Channel 9 TV productions, or on the radio at ungodly hours in the morning. Like Shylock in the Merchant of Venice, our employer wanted his pound of flesh.

Today's players – especially internationals – get paid a good salary by cricket's standards, and Hussain admits as much in his tour diary. But instead of complaining about the travelling, the players must learn to accept the responsibilities that come with the privileges. There are many young people who would give their life to play for their country, and talk of staleness or tiredness is tantamount to making an excuse.

Yes, the physical and mental demands of cricket are huge, but with 16-plus Test matches a year, and even more one-day games, you cannot afford to be coasting. Players have to change their attitude. They have to be fitter, stronger, more focused and more disciplined to survive this heavy schedule. If they don't, then injury and defeat will stare them hard in the face. Steve Waugh was recently was asked on TV whether he was tired of all the travelling and playing. His answer was emphatic. "It's part of our life and we just have to get on and do it."

I can sympathise with the workload – in my five years with the South African team, there was very little time for wives and families, who often had to put up or shut up. There were sometimes attempts to include them in the set-up, but it often felt as though you were making trouble, and little had really changed since my England days.

Once again, a leaf can be taken out of World Series Cricket's book. Kerry Packer's management encouraged families and children to travel with the players, all at extra cost. They were made to feel part of the set up and we all benefited from the effort. That happened 25 years ago but it was way ahead of its time.

Cricket must continue to be seen and played as much as possible. We all have a duty to promote the game and keep it in the public eye, it is our legacy to do so. But to make this possible, it is important to listen to the cries and help the players help the game.

Bob Woolmer is Warwickshire's coach and ICC's high-performance manager. He was coach of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

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