Former England cricketer David Lloyd lambasted the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the national men’s team’s schedule. Lloyd said the ICC is hardly concerned about the fans, given the relentless itinerary of the England team in various formats.
The English Test summer ended on 9 September with the series against Sri Lanka, but they were then engaged in a white-ball series against Australia from 11 September as the selectors had to rest a few players.
However, a few players from the ODI series are now part of the Test tour of Pakistan, which began on 7 October.
In his column for The Daily Mail, the 77-year-old stated that fans are struggling to plan in the current situation about which matches to attend.
He reasoned: “The ICC knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing. It should be quality over quantity, but it is the other way round with them. Supporters are obviously the last people on their mind. A fan would usually save up and plan long in advance for a tour, maybe join a tour group and look forward to their trip. Now, where are they supposed to go?”
“Until last week, England’s armchair fans didn’t even know if they were going to be able to watch this series at all. ‘Is it going to be on telly?’ ‘Oh, they don’t know yet.’ It’s ridiculous. Are these people sat around a table drunk?,” he added.
England’s limited-overs side will begin their three-ODI and five-T20I series in the West Indies on 31 October.
England also have a three-Test rubber in New Zealand in November-December, followed by a white-ball tour of India in January. Then, the Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place in Pakistan the following month.
Lloyd stressed that the packed scheduling has left touring teams hardly any time for warm-up games.
Lloyd added, “Because of the schedule, teams have no time to prepare properly now. They don’t play warm-up matches. They just rock up into a different country and start playing. I once took England to Lahore to prepare for a tournament in Sharjah as coach, and have been there two or three times with Sky. It is one of the great places to tour. Everyone talks about the Caribbean, Australia or New Zealand, but Pakistan is fabulous and great fun.”
