England coach Andy Flower says he will warn his bosses not to arrange any more energy-sapping one-day marathons like the one that has left him with a skeleton squad.
Two days before England's final one-day international in Perth, Flower revealed that his end-of-tour report would include strong criticism of the schedule, which threatens to undermine their World Cup campaign before it has even started.
Now that Paul Collingwood has returned home to recover from a back spasm, England have lost five of the 15 players who were originally picked to start the series.
And with Stuart Broad still working his way back to full pace after tearing a stomach muscle in December, they may struggle to field 11 fit men for their first World Cup warm-up on Feb 16.
The England camp have tried not to whinge about the itinerary, knowing that several players have volunteered for extra cricket during the Indian Premier League season in April. Still, no one wants to go through this sort of debilitating experience again.
Flower was asked yesterday whether he would pass his views on to the England and Wales Cricket Board in his end-of-tour report. "I think it's highly likely that that will be included," he replied.
"Obviously it's not ideal preparation for the World Cup," Flower added. "We have got six guys injured and if you look a little further into some of the people on the field, we have got some significant niggles that people are dealing with.
"There will be a communication between me and the people who decide on these itineraries."
Despite the lengthy casualty list – which includes Tim Bresnan's torn calf, Ajmal Shahzad's torn hamstring and Graeme Swann's sore back as well as Collingwood and Broad – Flower is reluctant to consider making any substitutions in his World Cup 15.
He still believes that all five injured players will be fit for the business end of the tournament, which begins on Feb 19 but does not really hot up until the quarter-finals more than a month later.
The tricky bit could be getting through the two warm-up games, especially if anyone else should pull up lame in the seventh and final match of this tour, at the Waca on Sunday.
England's warm-up programme consists of games against Canada on Feb 16 and Pakistan on Feb 18. And their plans are further complicated by the fact that Swann's wife is due to deliver their first child that week, so he will not arrive until the tournament starts for real.
Flower and his captain, Andrew Strauss, will meet the selectors on Tuesday to discuss progress. It seems that Bresnan has the longest rehab programme, as he is not expected to be fit until England's second World Cup match against India on Feb 27.
According to Flower, Bresnan is valuable enough to justify a gamble on his fitness. "That guy is an integral part of our one-day side and had been for a while," Flower said. "He is a quality performer who reverse-swings the ball, and also a powerful hitter who could be useful in the batting powerplays."
Meanwhile, England will have to decide whether to give Liam Plunkett his first international cap since 2007 when they pick the team for Sunday's finale in Perth. As Plunkett made a 40-hour journey from the Caribbean island of St Kitts to get here, he surely deserves better than a stint carrying the drinks.
Australia will be missing four first-choice batsmen. Ricky Ponting (finger) and Mike Hussey (hamstring) are unavailable through injury, while Michael Clarke and Shane Watson will be rested.
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