Marcus Trescothick: Fixture congestion is spoiling Somerset's chances

It's time the authorities took a serious look at fixture planning in county cricket to avoid the ridiculous situation Somerset are in at the moment.

The schedule we are being made to follow as a big season draws to a close is scandalous. Our floodlit Pro40 League game against Essex at Taunton on Tuesday night was the first of 12 days in which we get only one day off.

It's plain stupid. I got home at 11pm after the Essex game and, of course, it was impossible to go straight to bed because I was still pumping from the best part of 40 overs in the field.

I actually went to bed at about a quarter past midnight and was up the next morning with my kids at around 6.30am. I was then required to start a four-day game against Lancashire five hours later. When that match finishes the next two days see us in Pro40 action again, with important games against Hampshire and Worcestershire, which both involve travelling.

Then after just one day's rest we start another County Championship game against Worcestershire at Taunton. It simply isn't on when we are in with a chance of a top-two finish in both competitions.

I'm not sure how the fixtures are worked out, but I presume information is fed into a computer, which then produces a list for each county. If so, the procedure needs looking at and someone should be checking for over-hectic periods, which place too much strain on the players.

There is no doubt, in my view, that Somerset were at a disadvantage going into the first day of the Lancashire match so soon after a day-night Pro40 fixture.

The most amazing thing is that after finishing our Championship game against Worcestershire we have a whole week off before our final Pro40 clash at home to Durham. How ludicrous is that?

I'm sure other clubs have faced similar spells to the one Somerset are currently experiencing and it cannot be good for the game. There must be greater attempts to get the schedule right.

Maybe the Professional Cricketers Association should get involved and demand that players are not asked to play too many days in succession.

Can you imagine the England team being directed to play a floodlit one-day international one day and then get up to start a Test match the following morning?

There is no chance that would ever happen and county cricketers should be treated the same way. With the prize-money involved in the Championship and Pro40 League this season, we are talking about massive games for Somerset at what was always going to be a crucial stage of the summer.

Having got that off my chest, I have to admit there was no excuse for the two-wicket defeat by Essex, which has left us needing Sussex to slip up if we are to overtake them for the Pro40 title.

If the Sharks win their final game against Worcestershire two weeks on Sunday they will finish top of Division One, even if we win our final three matches.

We didn't seem on our game for some reason. I thought the batsmen made some poor decisions and no one took responsibility for the major innings we needed.

If none of the top six get a half-century you don't deserve to post a winning total. Although we had Essex in trouble when they replied, once they got past the new ball and needed only six an over they were always well in the game.

Our shortage of runs in the match mirrored what England went through in the opening games of the one-day series against Australia.

While it is often said that bowlers win Test matches and four-day games, batsmen making big scores is the key to success in limited-overs contests.

The difficulty for England's selectors is that there are few obvious candidates really pushing hard for one-day international selection at the moment.

One name that comes to my mind is Ed Joyce, at Sussex, who is very consistent and a major reason why his county have been the best in one-day cricket this summer.

Somerset's final squad of 15 has now been announced for the Champions League tournament in India next month, with yours truly in it, and I remain very eager to take part.

But I want to stress that there are no guarantees at this stage. The club are still looking at ways to make it as easy as possible for me to make the trip without risking a recurrence of the problems I have had playing abroad since my illness.

I am very grateful for that and the cricketer in me is desperate to go and take on some of the best Twenty20 players in the world.

But all I can say for sure at the moment is that I will be monitoring myself as the departure date approaches for any signs that it could rekindle my stress problems.

Interview: Richard Latham