Soper, who will compete with Somerset's Giles Clarke to replace current chief David Morgan, says there is little justification for a cut in fixtures.

"Player burn-out is not something I've seen and a new 40-40 competition may be on the horizon," he told BBC Five Live.

However, the ICC told the BBC that "no such proposal is under consideration".

Soper, who is currently deputy to Morgan -- the man who beat him to the top job in 2002 -- is regarded as the favourite to take over as chairman when Morgan steps down on 30 September.

And it was thought that one area of concern as the new chairman might be reducing the demands of international cricket on players.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen is the latest to complain of fatigue due to international commitments, but Soper said: "At certain times there is a lot of cricket, but taken over the whole year there isn't.

"If you think about it as regards one-day cricket for example, a lot of countries play a lot more matches than we do.

"There is a lot of talk of 'burn-out' but I was chairman at Surrey for eight years and I didn't see it and I don't know where this talk is coming from.

"Squads are now more specialist anyway -- split between one-day cricket and four-day cricket -- and so burn-out is not something I've encountered."

England coach Peter Moores insists there will be no hurried return to international cricket for Matthew Hoggard to prevent him from joining England's list of long-term injury victims. A back spasm during the build-up to the first Test in India's tour of England ruled Hoggard out of that match, and the next Test as well.

"We need to get him back fully fit and get that back sorted because if it goes again it could be a long job," Moores told Sky Sports. "He's not ready yet. He came down to Loughborough and was assessed and managed to bowl a bit but his back is a bit stiff.

"We might get him to bowl at Trent Bridge so the medics can keep an eye on him and build up his work-rate. What has been quite difficult for Matthew is the weather we've had ... he's not had much chance to bowl full stop."

Moores was speaking two days day after rain saved India's blushes in the first Test, and said he expected India to put in better performances in the remainder of the series as they would have acclimatised.

"I think they look a good team," he said. "Their bowlers will have settled a bit as well because I think they found the slope at Lord's quite challenging at first."