Bob Woolmer is worried about a number of side issues that is affecting the Pakistan side these days, and one is the planned programme of 30 ODI games with India spread over the next five years.Referring to it as a ‘logistical time bomb’, Woolmer’s major worry now is how both sides are going to keep players fit as they cope with their normal programme along with the extra games. Whether they are in Mumbai, Lahore, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Montreal or New York, keeping players fit for such games requires specialist caretaker arrangements.Pakistan have already lost Shoaib Akhtar to a long-term injury and others could follow. The programme could lead to both camps looking at a safety valve system whereby they will have two sets of fast bowling squads.‘‘It is only a private view, of course, but I have had a hard look at what is in store for the players and my main worry is about the fast bowlers and keeping them fit for such long stretches at a time’’, he added.Woolmer’s main current concern is the pace at which the game is played and the fitness of the players. The Kent all-rounder took five years to play his 19 Tests. He says that these days most players achieve that figure in a matter of 16 or 18 months. For fast bowlers it is a strain to keep them fit as injury often overtakes an overworked player.‘‘Really, it is a matter of serious concern to me and whoever follows me in this job’’, he added. ‘‘My contract ends in a year’s time, at the end of the World Cup in the Caribbean. I’ll be 59 by then and already the body is starting to creak at the joints.’’There was a boyish grin followed by a frown as he looks at the programme Pakistan and India have set themselves between now and the Caribbean Carnival. It is heavy, and fast bowlers are going to suffer as a result. While the game, as he sees it, has become more technical, the players are only human and injury is just around the corner.‘‘What happened to Shoaib is not an isolated injury. It has been building up for sometime. Selectors and officials as well as spectators need to understand this side of the game and it’s all too human factor’’, he commented. ‘‘There’s just too much (one day) cricket played and players are going to be affected.’’‘‘I can see a time when there will be two sets of fast bowling squads in case of injuries to top performers and this is of major concern. Both teams have fine pace attacks, but for how long? The game has changed a lot since I began my career in the 1960s and we need to look at the type of surfaces where the games are being played as well as the injuries that players get’’, he said with some concern. Another change he foresaw was the role of the lone physio being filled by two specialists: one responsible for joint injuries, the second checking on muscle fitness and fatigue factors. There would also be a gym instructor as well as fitness trainer accompanying the team.‘‘As it is, in the limited overs scenario, the teams between positions two and eight on the rankings are all so very close’’, he said. ‘‘It is all to do with the way the shorter game is run. Two years ago, before the last ICC Champions trophy, teams such as India and Pakistan were struggling in the middle-order and South Africa were second. Sri Lanka were seventh.‘‘By the end of South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka, they were fifth and Sri Lanka third. It’s a complete turnaround. South Africa were struggling because of injuries to a couple of fast bowlers, so were India and Pakistan.’’‘‘For this reason there is a major need to develop two squads of fast bowlers to keep pace with the modern game. Pakistan is now in the process and what I see coming out of India, they are doing the same. But the fitness and injury factors haven’t changed, just the extra load on players.’’
