England cricketers should rest properly when not on duty

England Cricket / Frank Gregan / 21 November 2011 /

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James Anderson should have been on the beach but instead is already turning up the intensity of his training

"Players at the highest level of cricket lead a hectic life and should be allowed to take a break when the opportunity presents itself."

Their upcoming tour of the UAE, where they face Pakistan, is eight weeks away. But some of the England players are already hard at work and taht's not necessarily the best preparation, says Frank Gregan.

One thing the English worker looks forward to is their couple of weeks basking in the sunshine on a beach away from our dreadful climate. The dark skies that drain the soul and the hammering rain on the daily commute takes its toll and we spend fifty weeks of the year dreaming about the fortnight when we escape. It doesn't matter what your job is, you can be living the dream but routine eventually grinds you down.

One group of workers that have deserved a break is our cricket team. They were having a fantastic year and nobody could have begrudged them a lengthy spell of rest. What a pity they didn't pack their knotted hankies and suncream and head to the beach before the tour of India, which was a poor end to a very good year.

It didn't need a first class degree in Tarot card reading to forecast that England would find it tough in India but not even Mystic Meg could have predicted the voracity of their downfall. They were absolutely smashed. It was bad timing to go on an elongated break on the back of a disastrous tour but England now need to regroup and make sure that they are properly prepared for their trip to the United Arab Emirates and their contests against Pakistan.

They also need to rest and enjoy the break but far from lying on a beach in the Caribbean, many of the players are taking part in preparation programmes in readiness for the UAE. That tour is still eight weeks away and the danger is that those in training now won't have had sufficient rest and consequently they will peak too early and not be at their best when the first ball is bowled in anger.

There are some that have to take part in the programme in order to prove their fitness and to complete their rehabilitation. James Anderson is an example although somewhat worryingly he tweeted last week: "had my first bowl for two months yesterday, bleep test and fitness training today. I can't move and my feet are bleeding." Performance programmes, body conditioning and individual excellence schemes are meant to be progressive yet we take arguably our best bowler and work him so hard on the opening day that his feet bleed! Bonkers.

Central contracts mean that international cricketers are well paid throughout the year and consequently their employers want their pound of flesh. The danger with that is that sometimes common sense goes out of the window and training only happens to have players clocking in and justifying their salaries. There's also a temptation to curtail the holidays so as to be seen to be taking action and administering a punitive punishment for a past poor performance.

Players at the highest level of cricket lead a hectic life and should be allowed to take a break when the opportunity presents itself. They should be able to do the things that we all took for granted back in the day. Go clubbing without any media attention and enjoy a visit to the greasy spoon where just picking up the menu makes the arteries harden and would cause the team nutritional coach to faint. In a nutshell, get away from it all and recharge the batteries by leading a normal life for a while.

It's all about getting the balance right. Over-cooked is as bad as under-cooked and we have to trust that Andy Flower and his staff hit the spot.

No such preparation worries for England's opponents Pakistan, who are currently in the UAE and in action against Sri Lanka and have a three game ODI and two match Test series with Bangladesh before Christmas. They won the three match Test series against Sri Lanka one-nil and have just taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the ODIs. The final game takes place on Wednesday with Pakistan at [1.9] and the Sri Lankans available at [2.1]. Pakistan are in good nick and those who think England will have it all their own way in January could be in for an unpleasant surprise if Flower's men's preparation is lacking.

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