42 Days

"There could be compulsory cricket training for members of the Barmy Army."

No, correction. I'll make that imperative rather than speculative. There must be compulsory cricket training for members of the Barmy Army. 42 days worth of it, Thursdays to Mondays, should just about cover a summer's Test cricket. A full annual refresher would of course be mandatory.

Failing that, the early return of National Service might well address the problem.