England players won't go on strike: Cook

Alastair Cook has insisted that England players would not go on strike over their busy schedule but said international calendar needs to be trimmed as the team is playing "too much cricket".

Cook, vice-captain of the Test team, had last week warned the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that the players might consider going on strike if the amount of international cricket they play is not reduced.

The opening batsman, who is widely tipped to take over as ODI captain if Andrew Strauss decides to quit the post, had said the players are competing in far too many games and risk burnout.

But, in an interview to the British website The Metro, Cook denied making the statement and said he did not mean the word 'strike'.

"I didn't mean to use the word 'strike'. It's not what I meant. It was a misunderstanding and it's been blown out of proportion. In fact, there's nothing further from our minds as a team," he said.

"We always talk about playing too much cricket – just look at this winter in Australia and then the World Cup, it's a problem. There is talk among us as a team that something needs to be done to reduce the amount of cricket we play but we have never ever mentioned striking, it's just not on the agenda.

"All of us are proud to play for our country, it's what we love to do but something has to change with the schedule if we want to keep producing our best in every form of the game," the 26-year-old added.

Earlier, Cook had said, "We can go on strike, which is not recommended, but at some stage it will have to change. We keep on saying we play too much cricket but we cram more and more games in."

England's players were on the road for close to five months before the World Cup and ended up losing some key players such as Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen to injury during the mega-event.

Their campaign came to an end in the quarter-finals.