Burnout concern for England's players causes coach Trevor Bayliss to ease back on schedule
There is no let-up for Alastair Cook’s tourists before Christmas as they move on from a frenetic tour of Bangladesh straight to India, where the first of five Tests begins in Rajkot next Wednesday.
They will do so on the back of a dispiriting, fluctuating series draw against the Tigers, who claimed their maiden Test win over England in Dhaka after agonisingly losing the opener in Chittagong.
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Hide AdDespite struggling with bat and ball on turning wickets on the subcontinent, England have no plans to schedule any warm-up matches between now and the end of the India series as Bayliss attempts to keep his players’ minds and bodies sharp.
He said: “When we first sat down and we’ve got seven matches in eight or nine weeks.
“The last thing we want to be doing is playing even more cricket.
“We don’t want to get to the third or fourth Test in India and everyone’s shot mentally and physically.
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Hide Ad“It is a juggling act, I understand that, but the few weeks we’ve had here has been some very good practice.
“I think if the players take the right messages and learn the right things from these two matches, that will stand us in good stead heading forward.
“We know it is going to be an even more difficult assignment in India.”
England head to Mumbai later this week with their next practice session scheduled for Saturday before moving on to Rajkot ahead of the first Test.
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Hide AdFurther matches will be played at Visakhapatnam, Mohali, Mumbai before the final Test in Chennai, which is slated to finish on December 20.
With England playing five Tests in a little over six weeks, Bayliss and Cook have suggested recently that key personnel may be rested over the course of the winter in order to maintain optimum performance.
Experienced seamer Stuart Broad made way in Dhaka as England used 13 players from their 16-man squad against Bangladesh, with the tourists opting not to make any changes to their line-up for India.
Broad is a near certainty to return to the fold in Rajkot, where he is expected to feature in his 100th Test.