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Cricket taking guard against depression

Roar Guru
13th February, 2012
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Roar Guru
13th February, 2012
5

It is a glamorous lifestyle; traveling the world, making a lot of money playing the game you love. But cricket can be a very monopolistic sport. The pressurised world which the players inhabit can make them especially vulnerable to metal illness, in particular, depression.

Former England captain Marcus Trescothick revealed just how monopolistic cricket can be when he made public his private sufferings in a vivid, award winning autobiography entitled, Coming Back To Me.

The book, a detailed account about how Trescothick, living his dream playing the sport he loved, devoted family man, considered self harm in order to reveal how much pain he was in during his battle with depression.

Depression can be easily hidden. If you break a bone, there is a cast on it to show you have broken it, but if you have a problem in your head, a mental problem, there is nothing evident to show that you need help and after an extended amount of time, the individual, in desperation, will look for other methods to showcase their pain.

Like Marcus, many find it difficult to reveal their personal battles with mental illness in the early stages and the Australian Cricketers Association along with Cricket Australia continue to further enhance the games knowledge of this hidden disease through various programs and support structures.

The Professional Development and Wellbeing Program, a joint initiative of the Australian Cricketers Association and Cricket Australia, was implemented in 2001 and is available to all male and female current players, those who have recently retired and past players on a case by case basis.

The program focuses on providing services in the key areas of, wellbeing and health services, education and training as well as career transition.

Australia Cricket Association National Manager for Player Development and Wellbeing, Ben Smith, works closely with players and acknowledges the need for a better understanding within the game.

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“I think it is hard to isolate or attribute specific elements of cricket that might make players more susceptible to depression than general members of the community or other professional athletes,” he said.

“Often it’s a players team mates or support staff that are the first to notice a problem, hence the need to arm them with this knowledge.”

Such is the focus of the program, it provides education to players, coaches and support staff, aiming to de-stigmatises mental health issues; help identify people that might be struggling and provide practical directions to players on how they can assist their teammates.

In a previous article, I suggested that professional cricket throws up very distinct challenges to those with a tendency to depression, highlighting the long periods away from home as a major contributing factor and Smith along with the ACA and CA concede that time spent away from home could be a contributing factor.

“It is not impossible for a CA contracted player who is playing in most forms of the game to be away from home for up to nearly 300 days in year and players have made the ACA acutely aware that the greatest challenge of playing international cricket is the time spent away from family and friends, in saying that, the travel is part of the game and the players understand that it is one of the sacrifices they must make to play cricket at the highest level.’’

In an attempt to address some of these challenges the ACA and CA provide players who are away for over 50 days of international cricket in any given year, access to a fully paid two week visitor’s period for immediate family members. Additionally CA has always provided a fully paid two week visitors period for players and their immediate family over the Christmas and New Year period.

To support touring players, CA send their psychologist to monitor a number of things including player well-being.

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Whilst CA is generous in their accommodation of families on tour, nothing can compensate for being at home, an arms length away from loved ones, especially when dealing with mental health issues.

However, Smith does not think the game attracts people with depressive tendencies, and suggests that it is “hard to isolate or attribute specific elements of cricket that might make players more susceptible to depression than general members of the community or other professional athletes”.

He goes on to suggest that “more research needs to be done within the area” and he would like the ICC to take a leadership role and commission greater research into mental health issues within elite cricket, highlighting that “without this research we are often providing reactive assistance”.

The ACA continue to look for ways to combat depression within the game. As a member of the Australian Athletes Alliance (AAA), the ACA coordinates closely with other sports to share knowledge and understanding in this vital area.

To support the need for a better understanding the AAA is currently developing a research project on “Stress, Coping and Outcomes in Sport” with the findings to be released at a conference to be held in October of this year.

We sometimes forget that sportsmen, just like everyone else, can suffer from mental illness.

It doesn’t matter how much money you are making, when you are away from your own comforts and support structures, the everyday things can sometimes prove to be difficult, but cricket, along with the support of CA and the ACA, presents a wonderful opportunity for team mates to speak to one another.

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By breaking down the stigma of mental health issues and empowering players to keep an eye out for their mates the ACA hope to see more players take advantage of the services available if they are having a tough time.

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