Less is more when it comes to international cricket, according to Shane Watson, who believes Australia’s top players would be happy take a pay cut if it meant a less arduous schedule.

The Australian team’s upcoming workload has drawn plenty of criticism, mainly because of a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka in Adelaide scheduled the day before the Test side plays in India. Selectors opted to take a second-string bowling attack to South Africa in their recent 5-0 one-day international series hammering, resting players in between a gruelling tour of Sri Lanka and the upcoming home six-Test summer.

“Whatever works to make sure that the product being produced is the most premium product,” former Test allrounder Watson told News Corp Australia when asked if he believed players would consider a pay cut. “If it meant there was a bit more life balance playing for Australia, I think whatever is required to actually get that, the players would be open to any of that for sure.”

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Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland said last week scheduling was a balancing act and hoped that cricketers could play less international games next year. But he said cricketers who chose to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League during their down-time from international duties couldn’t complain about the workload. Former Test skipper Steve Waugh echoed those sentiments.

Watson sided with former Test teammate Simon Katich, who recently said the jam-packed calendar may diminish the significance of Australian selection. “There’s too much cricket on and my personal belief is some it is on for the wrong reasons and not for the betterment of cricket,” Watson said. “A lot of it comes down to the money that’s generated ... and the deals that are done by the cricket boards that if you play games here we can play games at home.

“It needs to be looked at. As we saw in South Africa, we don’t take our best team there thinking we’ll be OK and we end up losing 5-0. No one wants that.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Australia’s James Pattinson is set to return from injury in the coming month. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

In other cricket news, fiery Victorian paceman James Pattinson is set to make his return to cricket early next month after missing most of this year through injury. Pattinson hasn’t played a first-class match since February after he suffered a bone stress injury in his leg and then a relapse of stress fractures in his back.

The 26-year-old said he was eyeing a grade-cricket comeback in early November, with a potential start in the Melbourne Renegades’ Twenty20 Big Bash campaign and possibly a Sheffield Shield game before Christmas.



“I’m off my long run next week. I’ll probably be playing grade cricket in the next couple of weeks and then see how I go from there,” Pattinson said. “I haven’t ruled out playing international cricket (this summer). I probably won’t play Test cricket.”

Pattinson, who has 70 wickets at 26.15 from 17 Tests, looked in good shape and revealed he had lost weight through plenty of pre-season running alongside Peter Siddle, who is also on the comeback from a back injury. He said he hadn’t changed his bowling action and was trying to bowl more “naturally”.

“I’ve just run in and tried to let the ball go and whatever happens sort of happens,” Pattinson said. “It’s probably the best I’ve felt in terms of bowling.” The speedster felt his lack of regular bowling had contributed to his long run of injuries and he hoped more cricket under his belt could help him avoid future problems.

“I would like to bowl a bit more without being rested every game,” Pattinson said. “I’m at a stage where I want to bowl and try to build that workload up in my body and try to get my body back to being pretty resilient. That’s my goal at the moment; try to get through the summer and play as much cricket as I can.”