One of the hardest things to do during a raging pandemic is play elite sport. Air travel, border issues, quarantine, isolation, specific rules teams have to keep an eye on all of the above while training and performing at an acceptable level. The mental strain cannot be quantified. Some sports and/or countries, instead of putting all their athletes in bubble life, have tried to place them in an environment that’s called managed living. Even if their freedoms aren't total, they are allowed to do a number of things open to wider society. Yet, managed living is only a euphemism. Once Covid enters that territory, it can very quickly have a domino effect. That freedom can quickly evaporate into another endless cycle of testing, quarantine, isolation, etc. This is what the Indian team feared when they wrote that letter, emphasising their reluctance to play in the fifth Test at Manchester. The BCCI was contractually obligated to play it but once the players felt the way they did, that was not going to happen. Thankfully, both the boards agreed and common sense prevailed. But this is a great opportunity for all member boards and the ICC to have a rethink about the global calendar. There is just too much cricket on show. Take for instance, the Indian team. They have already served two months of quarantine since cricket resumed but are already in another hard quarantine ahead of the IPL, the cash cow partly responsible for a calendar that is increasingly unsustainable. It's not just the IPL but other T20 leagues as well that have asked a bit too much of the players in an already unforgiving environment. This madness will go beyond the next two months. Apart from numerous bilateral tours, there is another IPL edition in 2022 as well as one more T20 World Cup next year. While Dawid Malan, the No. 1 men's T20 batter today, and a few others have turned their backs on the IPL, most cricketers can't afford to do that. If we don't listen to cricketers bodies, there may soon be a time when all of them will be jaded with not much creativity left in their game. The only way to prevent another cricketer from walking out is to ensure that the players are well protected by the system. Right now, the system is failing them.