Sydney, June 05: The establishment of an international one-day cricket league was proposed here today by an Australian players' body as a key part of a plan to save the sport from overkill. The Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) blueprint outlined by ACA chief executive Tim May also envisages countries being restricted to 30 one-day internationals a year.

The plan was aimed at ensuring players were not burned out by too much one-day cricket, said May, a former Australian off-spin bowler.

May unveiled the plan after Australian one-day captain Ricky Ponting -- who led his country to a World Cup triumph in South Africa earlier this year -- pleaded with Australian cricket chiefs to reduce players' on-field burdens.

Arriving home from the West Indies tour, Ponting said too much cricket, leading to premature burnout, was his team's biggest fear.

And recently, outgoing International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray raised concerns about one-sided matches.

May, writing on his organisation's website, said the game had been damaged by a glut of lopsided one-day matches across the globe -- as well as the sheer number of games, seemingly haphazard in their organisation.

"Cricket authorities have identified that ... Cricket is potentially damaged by the over-scheduling of uneven matches, yet they continue to put more of it out there for us to consume," he said.

Bureau Report