IANS

Sydney, Nov 30 (mb): With half the Australian team injured, senior players are calling for the annual ODI tri-series (which is scheduled to feature India and Sri Lanka as the two other teams this time around) to be scrapped. 
 
Opener Matthew Hayden, who is the latest to join Australia's growing list of injured players with a knee injury, told Channel Seven on Thursday that the cricketers were being pushed too hard and thinks the tri-series should go.

"It hasn't changed, it's actually increased. It's a matter of managing our resources. I'm someone who desperately wants to play as much as I can, but have just pulled up short," Hayden told the channel.

Continuous all year round cricket is taking its toll. Stuart MacGill may still require knee surgery, Phil Jaques is suffering from mumps, Michael Clarke has a hamstring problem and all-rounder Andrew Symonds is recovering from a foot problem.

Players told the channel that they are struggling to cope with an increasingly hectic workload and Hayden also fears fans are tired of watching meaningless contests.

"The amount of cricket that's coming up, there's gonna be injuries and there's gonna be fatigued players," fast bowler Shaun Tait told Channel Seven.

To ease the pressure, Tait, who has just come back from an injury, wants a fast-bowling rotation policy.

"But guys like Brett Lee and Stuart Clark who are cemented in the side might not want to lose their spots," he said.

Tait is trying to convince selectors that a four-man pace attack against India is the way to go for the Boxing Day (December 26) Test.