Joe Root has advocated for a restructuring of county cricket to prioritize player safety and enhance the quality of the games.

With The Hundred occupying the July-August slot in the summer calendar, the T20 Blast and the County Championship have been compressed into limited days available at the beginning and end of the cricketing season, putting significant strain on domestic cricketers.

According to a survey by the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA), 81% of male players are worried about the physical toll of the schedule and the risk of injuries, while 62% are concerned about its impact on mental health. About 66% of PCA members feel there's an excessive amount of domestic cricket.

Given these concerns, the PCA has labeled the current domestic schedule as "unfit for purpose" and a potential "disaster." Former England captain Root has also shared his thoughts on what changes are necessary.

"I am extremely passionate about county cricket and it is apparent the schedule needs to change for a host of reasons to see long-lasting benefits for English cricket," Root said. "County cricket is the breeding ground for some of the best talent in the game and this requires world leading structures to allow players to reach their full potential. This is a benefit for everybody in the game.

"We're trying to find a way of getting the standard of first class cricket as close to the international game as we can.

"There's a large number of players that don't think the schedule is conducive to high level performance as it stands right now, we need to find a way of making that gap smaller and the product better," said Root.

"There's so much cricket and there's so much to cover. It's not always going to be perfect, we know that, but if there's any way of finding a middle ground and meeting somewhere closer to the middle where the players are safer and the output of the games is of a higher quality, then English cricket will be winning.

"Having space to recover, prepare and improve your game during the season is crucial and the creation of minimum standards to protect travel windows and player welfare is non-negotiable," he added.