Cricketers fear career burnout

Australian one-day cricket captain Ricky Ponting says most of his team-mates fear having their careers cut short because of gruelling schedules.

Ponting, who returned to Sydney on Friday with the team after the West Indies tour, hoped officials would start listening to concerns about the number of matches his side was playing.

"I think that's the fear of everyone at the moment," Ponting said about the potential of player burnout.

"All the players want to play as much cricket for Australia as they can but at the same time don't want to be worn out, fatigued and have their careers cut a little bit shorter than they might have been.

"That's the biggest fear we've got in the team and we've mentioned that to various people and hopefully people start listening to us pretty soon."

Since September last year the Australian team has had less than three weeks off and has played three Test series, four one-day series and the World Cup.

Ponting says he expects most of the squad not to pick up a bat or ball over the next month before preparations begin for the two Tests and three one-day games against Bangladesh in Cairns and Darwin in July-August.

Australia won the Test series against the West Indies 3-1 and the one-day series 4-3.