Is the itinerary unfair?
Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore openly criticised the one-day triangular tournament after his side were forced to play in Birmingham and Manchester last weekend.
To exacerbate matters, the team's bus encountered traffic problems on the M6 on Saturday night and did not arrive at their team hotel until 9.30pm.
Back-to-back games are not uncommon four touring sides, but England - as is common practice for the host nation - are afforded a break of at least two days in between their matches.
Should the schedule be revised?
England need all the luck they can get! India who incidentally are not complaining would have played all their matches back to back and still won!
Raj, UK
The cricket boards of India and Sri Lanka had every opportunity to turn down the itinerary for a tour which was clearly intended to provide England the hosts with match practice before the World Cup. All this whingeing seems like sour grapes.
India and Sri Lanka could quite easily have played each other back home, and maybe added Australia or Pakistan for some sport, but somehow I think the summer in England was a much more lucrative and attractive prospect. Stop whingeing and enjoy the cricket.
Rich,
USA
There is nothing wrong with the schedule. Teams can make use of their squads to give rest to 'tired' players. Compare the schedule to baseball where a team can finish a game in LA one night and be scheduled for an afternoon game the following day 2000 miles away in St Louis; in England we are talking about distances a fraction of that.
Chris,
USA
There is nothing wrong in making an itinerary that favours the host country. I think India and Sri Lanka should be professional and take it sportingly. But I hope the English media and the fans take note of this.
If England get a similar schedule in the subcontinent when they tour here, they should not crib and make excuses like there is no direct flight, the venue is no good, back to back matches in hot and humid conditions, etc.
R. Kartik,
India
To enjoy at least one or even two days break while the other teams are playing back-to-back games in different cities is a new definition to 'home advantage'. As far as I know, home advantage is the ground support, familiar weather and home grounds. This is poor tactics from the ECB.
Sisil, Sri Lanka
Why not start the Sunday matches at 12.15 with a half hour tea break at 3.45? Close of play would be 7.45, which is no problem in mid summer. The timings would be close to those for domestic Sunday games and would give the team playing on Saturday more recovery time.
Nick Gledhill, UK
Protesting at this late stage appears to be more of an effort to save face back in Sri Lanka for the teams' pathetic dismal performance on this tour. If I can remember correct the Sri Lanka Captain had mentioned that they are ready to take on England & India on the one day series. At that time they were well aware of schedule. So this is only a excuse for the poor performance not the reality.
Angelo, USA
The itinerary certainly is skewed in the home team's favour, but the Boards of India and Sri Lanka had ample opportunity to protest and seek changes in advance.
Protesting at this late stage appears to be more of an effort to placate public opinion at home, which has been dismayed by the pathetic performance of the Sri Lanka team in the first four matches. Perhaps he may also be attempting to save his job!
Harry,
Sri Lanka
It's a simple case of advantage England! They should be ashamed of themselves - especially with the amount of money that has been generated by the visitors for the ECB.
Anu Kalhan, England
It is definitely not fair, nor is it "common practice in other cricketing countries". In 2001, for example, when India played against South Africa and Kenya, no matches were on consecutive days.
When Sri Lanka hosted a Tri-Nation series, all three countries - including Sri Lanka - played on consecutive days. It seems peculiar to England and Australia to have a schedule favouring the host country.
Srini, USA
Dav Whatmore is quite justified in his complaints. Sri Lanka had to play back-to-back matches twice in the series, and India had to play once. England, on the other hand, enjoyed at least one or even two days' break in between matches.
This is totally unfair on Sri Lanka, considering that they had just completed a gruelling Test series with England. Let's hope the organisers will reconsider the schedule next time
Shibu John,
Abu Dhabi, UAE
It's definitely unfair, but I am quite sure that India and Sri Lanka's respective cricket boards were shown and knew the schedule before hand (as is the practice everywhere).
So why didn't the boards complain at that point in time? Cricket fans should be asking their own boards this question, rather than complaining about something that was agreed to.
S Kulkarni, Indian in the UK
It does not need an expert to say that the itinerary is unfair. It is a blatant abuse of being a host country, and I have never seen a home team taking such an advantage in the past.
Vikram, UK
Even though the schedule is in favour of England, you cannot say it is unfair. After all, a home team should have at least some advantage! In England the pitches are not designed to suit the home team, whereas in the subcontinent, they tailor made for the host nation.
So the visiting teams should get on with the cricket instead of cribbing over the schedule. A good team doesn't complain about these things!
Krishnan, USA
Just imagine the same thing happening to England outside their country. I am sure Nasser Hussain would not waste any time whinging about the schedule.
Ryan, India
I support Whatmore's view that it's unfair to have the tourists play back-to-back matches while the hosts enjoy rest, but it is also unfair to criticise the ECB now. Why were Sri Lanka silent for so long? They should have protested before the series started.
The first time I read the series schedule I wondered why England are so protective of themselves all the time. I believe this is another reason why they don't win the Ashes - their players are never treated at their stress level and are too soft because of luxuries they are provided.
Shyamal Shah, USA
I think it is unfair for any team to play back-to-back matches in two different cities. It would be interesting to see England's reaction if they were forced to play two consecutive matches abroad at different locations. The schedule must be revised.
Shah,
USA
The schedule is unfair. The home team is enjoying long gaps between matches, while India and Sri Lanka are forced to play on continuous days (June 29 and 30 and July 6 and 7 respectively).
Take the case of the final: England have a three day rest, while India have only one day between the final league match and the Final. Is this logical or fair?
John,
Belgium
The itinerary has been designed to favour the England team, and it is only because of gentlemanly approach of the Indian and Sri Lankan teams that the series is still going on. Shame on you!
Ram, UK/India
It seems unfair that England have no back-to-back games while the others do. But for Whatmore to add that it was a different venue is ridiculous. They could have selected a hotel between the two locations and only had an hour on the coach each day, or they could have travelled by train.
English cricket venues are all pretty close together, with the exception of Durham, and you can deal with that by using a low-cost airline.
Keith, UK
This is not new. Every time a team goes on tour we find them complaining about uncomfortable schedules, making us wonder whether it is a deliberate ploy used by almost every country to suit their local team.
It is time for the ICC to employ neutral country professionals who could look into schedules for touring sides to suit their specific needs. Isn't cricket supposed to be a gentleman's game?
Uday Kulkarni,
Canada
Back-to-back matches in a three-nation tournament are not new in international cricket. The home team gets the favour of not playing them, and this is known to all cricket followers.
Dav Whatmore is making excuses for his side's lacklustre performances in England. India played back-to-back matches, and to their credit won both of them. As the ECB spokesman rightly pointed out, England had to play back-to-back matches when they were touring Sri Lanka.
Toorban, France/India