Former Test quick Jeff Thomson has suggested over-diagnosis from Cricket Australia's medical staff has contributed to the injury crisis in the nation's fast-bowling ranks.
Australia's quick-bowling group is on the verge of breaking point ahead of a busy Ashes campaign that will feature five Tests in just over six weeks.
Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson will lead the attack in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, but Australia would be hit hard should one of the trio break down.
James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood are all on the injured list, making all-rounder James Faulkner, veteran Ben Hilfenhaus and uncapped pair Ben Cutting and Chad Sayers the likely candidates for selection should injury strike.
A series of long-term injuries to young fast bowlers, particularly back complaints, has hit Australia hard in recent years.
Thomson, who was not immune to injury himself during his 12-year international career, says the increased role of sports science is to blame.
"Do they really have these injuries? Or does somebody do a test on them when they've bowled and say 'your back's hot'," Thomson said in an exclusive interview with Yahoo!7 Sport.
"If they did that to every one of us when we played you'd probably have the same thing. Nobody bothered with it back then, nobody did it so you just went out and bowled. So I think it might be a bit of overkill sometimes."
Cricket Australia carefully manages the workloads of all its fast bowlers in an attempt to prevent injuries caused by over-bowling.
It has led to Harris, Siddle and Johnson being rested from the final round of Sheffield Shield matches before next week's first Test, despite Johnson bowling just 37.4 overs in first-class cricket since March.
Hilfenhaus was also rested from Tasmania's match against Victoria this week.
Thomson says managing workloads is a risky guessing game because all fast bowlers are different.
He suggests Cricket Australia's ever-growing support staff are trying to justify their positions by over-analysing how much fast bowlers play and train.
"I think if you ask the actual players, I think they'd rather play than not play. I think it's somebody else guarding their own little job," Thomson said.
"I think (the medical staff) have too much say. They guess at what theyre doing anyway. I don't care what they say, they guess with a lot of the things they do.
"There's no formula. What works for one bloke isn't going to work for the other in bowling because everyone has a different anatomy, a different pick up, a different action and a different amount of effort they put in.
"There's no rule of thumb so I think it's the greatest load of rubbish anyway. I dont care what they say."
Siddle defended Cricket Australia's policy during a radio interview on Monday, hitting back at criticism from former Test quicks Glenn McGrath and Geoff Lawson.
The 28-year-old said the high volume of international cricket and overseas travel in the modern era makes rest and rotation essential.
He believes the current cautious approach will benefit Australia's young fast bowlers later in their careers.
"It annoys me a little bit," Siddle told SEN when asked about criticism from former players.
"It was said that (Geoff Lawson's) career lasted ten years and Mitchell Johnson played Geoff Lawson's career in three-and-a-half. So that's a comparison of the games difference and where we're at.
"It is hard and I guess we're blessed in a way to have a young group of bowlers at the moment who one day, hopefully, will become superstars."
Lawson, who is currently the bowling coach for New South Wales, agrees with Thomson that having a blanket rule for all bowlers makes no sense because every player is different.
He added that Cricket Australia's statistics on increased workloads in the modern game are misleading.
"You've got to be careful when you start throwing out stats," Lawson told SEN.
"I think (Siddle) is repeating stats that other people in Cricket Australia are telling him.
"We've done the numbers and when you count the games, the balls and add first-class and club cricket we never missed a game of that stuff the balls are about equal.
"Yes, there's more Twenty20. Yes, there's more overseas tours and more travel, and that stresses the players as much as anything.
"But you've got to be careful when you're talking about the guys who did bowl a lot in the 80s and 90s because we did bowl a hell of a lot of cricket balls."
