THE AFL has been forced to backtrack on plans to institute two byes for the 2013 season, the League has confirmed.

Announcing the key dates for the 2013 fixture, the AFL said the season structure would be essentially unchanged from this year.

Next year's fixture will comprise 22 games over 23 rounds, with one bye per club.

The League had considered starting the season one week earlier to allow each club to have two byes, in accordance with a request from the AFL Players' Association (AFLPA).

But the AFL said the plan was unworkable because several grounds were unavailable due to cricket commitments.

The League remains hopeful of striking a deal with the State Government, the MCG, and Cricket Australia/Cricket Victoria to enable two byes to be included for future seasons.

"The AFL did consider various options around starting the season one week earlier, to enable two byes for all clubs, but have not done so for the primary reason that a number of key venues are unavailable due to cricket commitments at the SCG, the MCG and the Gabba," AFL General Manager Broadcasting, Scheduling and Legal Affairs Simon Lethlean said.

"It was determined that beginning the season without three key venues would be too big a disruption in terms of achieving the best outcome for the fixture and we fully respect the commitments that Cricket Australia has in March and it was not possible currently that we begin the season early.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the State Government, the MCG, and Cricket Australia/Cricket Victoria to enable access to the venues in order to commence the Premiership Season a week earlier and enable our players to be provided with two byes during the course of the season."

AFLPA chief executive Matt Finnis criticised the announcement, saying player welfare should have been the top priority.

"The captains were really clear on this principle when they met with the AFL commissioners earlier this year," Finnis said.

"As recently as the past few weeks, we'd been hopeful that the players' calls for two byes would be implemented for the 2013 season.

"Naturally, we expect the players to be concerned at today's developments."

The 2013 season will begin on Easter Thursday, March 28.

The Grand Final will again be played on the last Saturday of September.

The fixture will be completed in mid to late October, Lethlean said.

As has been the case this season, a standard round will consist of one Friday night match, two Saturday afternoon matches, one Saturday twilight match, two Saturday night matches, one early Sunday match, one Sunday afternoon match and one Sunday twilight match.

The League expects the byes to be held over three rounds of six matches, as was the case in 2012.

2013 TOYOTA AFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON - KEY DATES

Round 1: Thursday 28 March 2013 - Monday 1 April
Round 23: Friday 30 August - Sunday 1 September 2013
AFL Finals Series: Week 1 - Friday 6 September 2013
Toyota AFL Grand Final: Saturday 28 September 2013