Nasser Hussain has called on the game's authorities to review the increasingly packed international schedules if they don't want to see more and more players suffering from burn-out. By the end of 2002 England will have played 14 Tests and as many as 26 one-dayers in five different countries; in 2001 England played just 14 ODIs. The increased number of one-day internationals have come about as a result of a request from coach Duncan Fletcher to play more limited overs games. Hussain does not object to that as much as the punishing itineraries which see players spending more and more time travelling between tournaments and series.

"We're probably playing about the right amount of one-day cricket now," he said. "But if you also throw in the amount of Test matches we're playing too, we're probably pushing the limit of professional sport that we can play in one year and still play to our peak in every game."

England have been blighted by a series of niggling injuries to their key players - in the last six months Mark Butcher, Darren Gough, Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles, Andy Caddick and Graham Thorpe have all been sidelined at some stage through wear-and-tear injuries. At a time when centrally-contracted players appear rarely for their counties - ostensibly in an attempt to keep them fresh - they are being given more and more international pressures.

"We're not complaining about the amount of cricket because it's a great lifestyle, but there has to be quality and not just quantity," Hussain said. "I want my bowlers like Darren Gough and Andrew Flintoff to be able to bowl fast in every game and it could be that those players who play both forms of the game for England will have to looked after because there's no end to it."

Hussain also feared that the more cricket players are asked to take part in, the less important each match will be to them. "There should not be a situation where it is just another game or another Test match for the players or the supporters because they also have to be able to look forward to who England are playing next."

And he warned that it was up to the authorities to protect players. "Trescothick and Vaughan have loved every minute of it and that's when it takes a good coach to look over their shoulders and keep an eye on them - it's important to realise the amount of cricket ahead of them."

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