Australia are scheduled to play 20 Tests and 14 white-ball internationals over the next 12 months, including a five-Test tour of India, a one-off Test against England to mark the 150th anniversary of the format and a five-Test Ashes series in England.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The IPL, expected to run from around mid-March until the end of May, falls into the only significant window without international cricket for Australia before a possible World Test Championship (WTC) final in June.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
McDonald, however, stressed that the IPL remains an important part of Australia\u2019s player management strategy and believes exposure to the competition can benefit the team\u2019s leading cricketers. \u201cI\u2019ve said this before, the IPL is part of our management plan for a lot of our players, and to expose our best players in what I believe is the best competition in terms of T20 cricket has its performance benefits as well. You\u2019ve just got to balance that out,\u201d McDonald told Cricinfo.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green and Travis Head are among the Australian players currently associated with IPL franchises, while Josh Inglis is also part of Lucknow Super Giants\u2019 squad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Any decision by Australia\u2019s Test regulars to skip the tournament or limit their availability could have implications for franchise planning, particularly when it comes to player retention.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Australia\u2019s pace attack is likely to be at the centre of the workload discussion, with McDonald emphasising the need to give the fast bowlers sufficient time to recover before another packed international cycle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Ashes and the ODI World Cup are among the major targets on Australia\u2019s horizon, making player fitness and workload management particularly important.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI know that people say, country versus franchise and all that, but the important part of this period is that we\u2019re allowing our fast bowlers to reset their body, get everything in order to give themselves the best opportunity across the 20 or 21 games that everyone talks about,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Ashes and the ODI World Cup are among the major targets on Australia\u2019s horizon, making player fitness and workload management particularly important.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe starting point is that you can do it all, and I think if you start from that point, then you can make decisions according to that. The starting point is that the IPL can fit, and if it doesn\u2019t fit, then you know these players, along with the management, have been willing to make those decisions,\u201d McDonald added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n