Australia / Frank Gregan / 10 October 2010 /

Frank Gregan gives us his take on the "resting" of Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson....

You know, sometimes we all get knackered. You know what it's like. 6.30 in the morning the alarm goes off and you drag yourself out of bed to get ready to head down the virtual pits and scratch a living. The commute from hell to get to work, eight hours of drudgery followed by another awful journey and then a few hours in front of the telly before the cycle starts again. Still, there's always the holidays to look forward to and the chance to re-charge the batteries.

Top class cricketers these days are Alpha athletes and with the hectic schedule of international cricket they need to ensure that they rest up between matches and give the body sufficient time to recover. England still have another couple of weeks before they are due to fly off Down Under whilst the Aussies are touring India. This is of course our marsupial cousin's summer and they have a long stretch ahead of them.

Cricket Australia announced last week that it intends to rest Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson during the upcoming three game ODI series against the Indians. Australia's chief selector, Andrew Hilditch cited 'burn out' as the reason and that they wanted to ensure that the players remained fresh for the "much awaited World Cup." They're not concerned about the Ashes then - yeah right!

It would be nice if just once in a while top sportsmen could be given a reality check. The three Aussies are being rested for a series which involves three days work during a ten day period after the end of the second test. That's seven days rest and three days graft - how many of us would willingly volunteer for that shift pattern!

When they get back to Australia they've got a Twenty20 and three ODIs against Sri Lanka before having close to three weeks off to prepare for the first Ashes Test. How much time off do these guys need? Burn out, stress, fatigue and mental exhaustion are a recent sporting discovery and whilst there's no doubting that the modern day cricketer is subjected to much more pressure than his predecessor, these days they also have their noses blown for them and are wrapped in cotton wool.

Australia played Pakistan in a Test match at Headingley which finished on 24th July. They then had two months off before playing a three day warm-up game and two Test matches in India and after that 'exhausting' schedule the skipper and two key players are deemed to need a rest. Ah bless!

International cricketers are 'living the dream' and have a duty to make sure that they are fit and raring to go whenever their country has a fixture. In fairness to the players, the decision may have been taken without their consultation but any professional sporting career is time sensitive and there'll be enough time to put the feet up and take it easy when the girth starts to spread, the knees start to creak and the hand/eye co-ordination has gone.

This is a tour to one of the world's finest cricketing nations. It's India, not Zimbabwe or Bangladesh. Cricket Australia had this tour slotted in to their schedule at pretty short notice but to treat it like football's Carling Cup is disrespectful. They are also robbing their players of three one-day international appearances.

The ODIs get underway next week and whilst the market has yet to take shape, a case can be made to back India against an Australian side that are not only weakened by the absence of three key players but also must be feeling that this is not much of a priority as far as the selectors are concerned. Odds of [2.0] or better on the Indians should be snapped up.

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