da betcris： Pakistan will consider the toll county cricket takes on its players beforedeciding on whether or not to allow their bowlers, in particular, to takeup future contracts
Cricinfo staff21-Jan-2008
Mohammad Asif was advised to put his county contract on hold due to fears of player burnout © Getty Images
Pakistan will consider the toll county cricket takes on its players beforedeciding on whether or not to allow their bowlers, in particular, to takeup future contracts.Pakistan’s fast bowlers have been plagued by injury in recent years,preventing the selection of what would be a first-choice attack. Not allof the injuries have come from playing county cricket, but the boardworries that an excessive workload could adversely affect their resources.In recent years, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, RanaNaved-ul-Hasan and Yasir Arafat have turned out for various counties.”We have to look at the effects of county cricket on our players’fitness,” Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the PCB, told reporters at the NationalStadium in Karachi. “Even some spinners have come back from their seasonscompletely fatigued and that is not good for Pakistan.”Danish Kaneria is the only active Pakistan spinner currently with a countycontract and he has one season left with Essex on his current deal. Sincecoming back from the last season, Kaneria has struggled for impact in twoTest series against South Africa and India. He bowled nearly 561 overs inthe County Championship alone, in 13 matches.The Pakistan board prevented Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif from taking upcounty contracts in 2007, though it later compensated both financially forthe loss of earnings. It has also prevented Rao Iftikhar Anjum from takingup a contract for 2008. Ashraf did not say, however, whether players – ifprevented – would be compensated in the future.”In the past Pakistan players used to play county cricket because thefinancial rewards at home were not so high. That is not needed now becausewe are in a position to pay our players handsomely and they don’t need tolook abroad,” said Ashraf.A final decision on the matter will be taken when the board’s governingcommittee meets in Karachi on January 25.