13 months have passed since the Schofield Review dissected English cricket’s failings but, says Stephen Brenkley in the Independent on Sunday, no action has yet been taken about the quantity of cricket being played:

A key component of the Schofield Review, however, was that there should be a reduction in the amount of professional cricket being played, domestically and internationally. Schofield was perfectly candid on the point. The report said: "It is essential the ECB act now."

But England are still tied into an arduous future tours programme – they will have no substantial break until 2010 – and the counties will this season play more cricket than last year, not less. More worrying still, there remain no concrete plans for dividing the World Cup from the away Ashes series. Playing them so close together has affected England badly.

[…]

Morris said: "The critical thing is we have to ensure that our players have the right balance between the amount of time they have to prepare, the amount they play and the amount they rest."

In the same paper Brian Viner compares Ian Botham to Mohammad Ali: two brave sporting icons with fears of vertigo and flying respectively.