ICC mulls scrapping home-and-away compulsions from FTP

With player burnout becoming a major concern, International Cricket Council president David Morgan says mandatory home-and-away series over a six-year cycle could be scrapped from the post-2012 Future Tours Programme.

Under the current FTP, all teams must play a Test and One-day series against each other twice over a six-year cycle.

But Morgan said the structure could be relaxed in the new draft to address the issue of player burnout.

"I can't elaborate, but at the moment it's a requirement that in any six year cycle each full member has to play the other home and away in a minimum of two Tests and three One-day Internationals. I believe there will be a relaxation of that," Morgan said about the draft FTP.

"Perhaps not in the number of games, but there's the possibility of instead having to play everybody home and away in a fixed cycle, you may either play them away or home," he told Cricinfo.

Morgan said such a maneuvering would address concerns about too much cricket, being raised by the Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA).

"I firmly believe that it is very important to consult with the players. Where FICA is recognised, which is in the majority of countries, we are very happy to liaise and discuss things with Tim May and his team. I find them a responsible body," Morgan said.

FICA had urged the ICC to cut down the number of international games to give players reasonable breaks between series.

"We believe that the model of bilateral ad hoc series that have been cricket's structure for the past century (and again from 2012-2020) is fast becoming an outdated model, and will be unable to cater for the changing cricket landscape," FICA chief Tim May had written.