Alastair Cook, the England vice-captain, has warned the ECB that England players could consider strike action if moves are not taken to reduce the heavy schedule the side currently faces.
Cook is widely tipped to take over from Andrew Strauss as England one-day captain and said the fixture list undermined England's hopes in the recent World Cup, where they crashed out in the quarter-finals.
The players who featured in both the Test and ODI sides spent just three nights at home from the start of the successful Ashes tour in November to last month's World Cup exit. Cook, who is not part of the ODI team, said: "'We can go on strike, which is not recommended, but at some stage it will have to change."
"I feel sorry for the lads. I've been pretty much the only one who's been able to play and to enjoy the experience of winning because of the schedule.
'It has to change before it all becomes meaningless. As players we don't have much power. We keep on saying that we play too much cricket. I've been saying this since I was 18 and I'm now 26, but we cram more and more games in."
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