2022 started with Australia finishing off an Ashes whitewash, but some high performances since by England in a year of much cricket: 15 Tests, 12 ODIs and 28 T20 fixtures; a schedule with 115 playing days, Ben Stokes playing on more days than anyone.
It’s a tricky period for the high performance thinking in the Strauss Review and the idea that less will lead to better: in 2022 the number of playing days, the different formats on England’s (nine-month) schedule were pretty much pro rata with the domestic season. 48 players overall, a few too many to put on one graphic, but still an idea below about who did what, and the split between red and white-ball players: most mainly, if not wholly, one or the other.
Scheduled days, source Cricket Archive.
All good then or simply too much? The non-crowd at ODI batch number CA20ECB12 was one pointer this year. But there are 45 Test matches coming up over the next four years and county members putting their hands up for a 14-game Championship have quite reasonably been giving those in charge a fair reminder.