Rob

What’s Adam Gilchrist talking about? He said he wanted a five-month break after the Bangladesh series and now says the Champions Trophy is irrelevant for Australia in an Ashes year, so they should take a break there, too. What is he, a professional (I mean paid, please note) athlete or a professional break-taker?

Reese

I agree with Rob. If you are a professional paid to do your job, you should just get up in the morning and go to work like everyone else. Stop whining about overwork and extra burden.

sunny

Reese and Rob, I think you’re missing the point. Sport is not just any job, right? Look at the tremendous wear and tear on their bodies. Which normal job in the world makes such demands on the body and mind?

Reese

Sunny, ok so they have to work hard for certain parts of the year. On the other hand, they have access to the best medical treatment free of cost and can avail facilities that common people can only dream of. So I don’t see what they are complaining about. If they are so stressed, why not just retire? I mean, the Australia team has so many guys on the wrong side of 30. Why would they keep going if the going was so rough?

Rob

I agree, Reese. It’s like Gilchrist and Ponting and others like them are doing everyone a great favour by playing, when that is what they are paid to do. In my opinion, the only break that professional sportspersons should get is when they are injured, on the verge of physical or mental collapse, in the midst of a personal crisis or resting before an important game.

odirocks

Just as an aside, Javed Miandad recently said that in his time, players yearned for more matches. However, he forgets the little fact that in his 20-year international career, he played 233 ODIs, while Inzamam-ul-Haq has played 251 games in the last 10 years. My point is that I think modern players are playing too much cricket.