DWTA.
It is the fault of the ICC that too much cricket is being played.
Most Australian internationals skipped this season's IPL, because since last October, the FTP has seen Australia play:
- A 4 Test series in India
- A 2 Test Series at home to New Zealand
- A 3 Test, 2 T20I, 5 ODI series at home to South Africa
- A 5 match ODI series vs New Zealand
- A 3 Test, 2 T20I, 5 ODI series in South Africa
- A 5 ODI, 1 T20I series vs Pakistan in the UAE
That is an insane amount of cricket. Now let's look at what the next 6-9 months have in store:
- Twenty20 World Cup
- Ashes Tour of England (2 FC tour games, 5 Tests, 8 ODIs, 2 T20Is)
- Champions Trophy
- Home series vs West Indies and Pakistan (6 Tests, 10 ODIs, 3T20Is)
- Away series vs New Zealand (3 Tests, 5 ODIs)
According to the FTP, they're also due to go back to India for a 7 match ODI series between the Champions Trophy and their home summer as well.
That's a ludicrous international schedule. If international cricket is going to survive, then the ICC needs to cut back the amount of cricket its members play. Otherwise, you're going to get a scenario where the top players either pick and choose with the consent of their boards which series they'll play in to avoid burn out (we're already starting to see this - MS Dhoni skipped the Test leg of last summer's Sri Lanka tour, Australia have been strategically resting players during ODIs this winter), thus devaluing international cricket, or worse, be so burned out with constant travelling and playing that they decide that they can't do it any more, and choose the easy life of playing for 6 weeks in the IPL for $1m, thus depriving international cricket of its top stars.
Twenty20 "super leagues" in the form of the IPL, P20 (done properly, not the nonsense that's been proposed), SPL, Champions League, whatever, will be the future of the game. It is the ICC which is destroying international cricket, not these T20 leagues.