“It’s a crisis” we hear, and that could be right.
“It’s unprecedented” go some calls, and there is truth to that – three Australian cricketers, all of whom are viable candidates for a Test place, have taken a mental health break within a two week period. I can’t recall anything else like it in the history of the game.
Is there a reason they are all Victorian players?
No idea.
Is there a reason they’re all exciting swashbuckling batsmen?
No idea.
Is it indicative of a new world of mental ill-health in cricket?
No.
Sure, it’s unusual that so many players are taking time out at the same time due to mental health, but not that cricketers have mental health issues.
Some have said that in the old days it was a simpler time. Less social media. Less pressure. More resilience.
Not true.
Cricketers, like society as a whole, have always suffered from mental health issues.
Shaun Tait took a break from the game in 2008 to refresh his mind and body, which he did.
Go back further and Michael Slater had a well-publicised meltdown in India in 2001. His mental health issues were a key factor in the break up of his first marriage and him being dropped from the side that year. Slater is very open about this in his memoir.
Go back further and Kim Hughes, the brilliantly talented erratic batsman, seemed to have a breakdown when captaining the tour of the West Indies in 1984. His antics included ordering a bat-slow in a tour game and staring at a TV watching cartoons all day wearing dreadlocks, which made Alan Border think he’d “lost the plot”.
He resigned from the captaincy later that year in tears, exhausted in particular from a brutal campaign against him by Ian Chappell and went on to have a lot of problems in later years, brilliantly documented in Christian Ryan’s book Golden Boy.
Greg Chappell was legendary for his apparent coolness under pressure but now claims his decision to order the underarm against New Zealand in 1980-81 was a “cry for help”. Chappell was proactive about this and after the underarm game began opting out of international tours until the end of his career – and was scandal-free for all of that time.
As the leading batsman in the country, though, he was always welcome back in the side – something not available to lesser players who could’ve used the break too. And at the time he didn’t say the breaks were for mental health – he said they were for business and family reasons. He knew he would be judged otherwise.
(Photo by Matt King – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)
Sid Barnes, Jack Iverson and Jim Burke were all Test players of the 1950s, the good old days, when men were men and pubs all shut at 6pm. They all committed suicide in the 1970s. In fact, so many cricketers have committed suicide a book was written about it. The introduction to a new edition was written by Peter Roebuck, who committed suicide.
Mike Gibson, beloved commentator of many sports, including cricket, killed himself.
Don’t forget the players who drank themselves to death like Paul Hibbert and Chuck Fleetwood Smith.
“Mental health” is such a huge banner. It’s an expression used for an enormous range of things, from chemical issues in the brain, to clinical depression, to addiction to drugs/alcohol, to a relationship break up, to financial struggles, to simple exhaustion, to many, many more things.
Just like physical injuries, mental injuries come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Just like physical injuries, mental ones can be treated in a variety of ways – sometimes by taking time out, sometimes with medicine, sometimes with psychologists, sometimes with talking to family and friends, sometimes (but definitely, definitely not all the times) but simply gutting it out.
There is still so much about the human brain we don’t know.
But what we do know is that this is not new in cricket.
What is new is people being more proactive and open about it.
And that should be accompanied by celebration more than hand-wringing.
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
I agree. Some people can handle their drink. Others can't. Many people think they can when they can't. The key isnt so much the alcohol as making a personal connection - ensuring you have a strong social support network.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Reminds me of the way dean jones was treated late 80s. Jones was probably more outspoken than maxwell but you are talking about two amazing talents that rubbed the selectors up the wrong with a comment or two , of course the selectors would rather hold a beef than do the right thing for the Australian team although they tend to perpetually forgive warners antics off and on the field
HR
Roar Rookie
The implication that alcohol is necessary for players to connect and socialise is a related issue - the arguably positive effects in small doses (reduction of inhibition) are undoubtedly bad in larger doses, and the solely negative effects (it's a depressant, it affects athletic performance and recovery) mean that on balance what you really want is stumps drinks without the (alcoholic) drinks.
JGK
Roar Guru
Good article. As you say, this is not a new phenomenon at all in cricket. Of course, taking one’s life isn’t the only symptom of mental health but it does seem to have a high prevalence amongst cricketers. The prolific cricket author David Frith wrote “By His Own Hand” in 1991 in relation to 80 cricketers who took their own lives. Eerily, the forward to that book was written by Peter Roebuck. Sadly a mere 10 years later, he felt compelled to write a follow up book “Silence of the Heart ” which added to the 80 in the first book and included a story of David Bairstow – former England keeper and father to Jonny. Silence of the Heart itself was republished in 2011. Hopefully the legacy of the likes of Jonathon Trott, Trescothick, Maxwell etc will be that in another 20 years time, there will be no need for a further follow up.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
Can only wholeheartedly agree.
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
Socialising can be a wonderful way to decompress. It can also have a down side -what to do when cliques form, what if people have addictive personalities, etc. It does seem, however from a layman's POV that one of the most effective things to fight against mental ill-health is good interpersonal relationships.
Coldone
Roar Rookie
Stephen, you are right in saying that cricketer mental health issues are not new. A number of early test players committed suicide. These included the early great English batsman Arthur Shrewsbury in 1903, Albert Trott (brother of Australian captain Harry) in 1914 and England captain Andrew Stoddart in 1915. And the first test cricketer to die, Billy Midwinter, passed away whilst an inmate of an asylum in 1890.
anon
Roar Pro
I think it's an absolute disgrace. I can't think of someone treated worse in Australian sport. Maybe Kim Hughes treatment by Lillee and Marsh, but Maxi seems to have had coaches involved as well in victimising and marginalising him.
Carl
Guest
As others have said, thank you for this article on an important and pertinent topic. Well done.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Jeff spot on we can all have a go at some of kohlis antics at times but he's stepped up behind smith and maxwell and has been supportive. He's an intelligent bloke on many levels
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Totally spot on about Tescothick . These conditions are much more rampant across all vocations and humans and in the future they will no doubt look back on this period as quite archaic with diagnoses and acceptance public mentality which is improving all be it too late for to many out there in the past. In the mean time hopefully opening up about it and treating it will get these guys back in the mix ASAP.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Excellent article Stephen.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Maxwell also did things I've rarely seen done by a cricketer too , and in places like India. An unbelievable talent even if inconsistent at times
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Somewhat related - Kholi also stepping in re the Smith booing in the WC was a sign of good sportsmanship, but also to stop the mob-pressure that was being heaped on an individual. Not to say Smith was having mental health challenges of his own, but it was the recognition by Kholi that it wasn't healthy, so kudos to Virat.
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Stephen Yes agree - obviously mental health issues are not new in cricket or anywhere else. It does however explain Maxwell's unstable batting career and performances over the years. He was consistently all over the shop and now fans know why. No one should ever expect Pucoski to have a Test career either
Paul
Roar Guru
Excellent article Stephen. You mentioned alcohol in your piece and I wonder how much it's use played, both in allowing players to manage their mental health as well as tipping some over the edge? I know in my work, when I've had a seriously stressful day, a few drinks with work colleagues has worked wonders. We talk through issues, perhaps get some advice on how to deal with problems, then move on. A similar principal used to apply for decades with stumps drinks in the dressing room, often followed by dinner and a few more drinks. With cricketing schedules being what they are and the emphasis for top class sports people to watch everything they eat or drink, I wonder if this opportunity to unwind is still being used as it was previously? Sure we see photos of guys having a beer after an Ashes win, but that's very different from being able to debrief after every day's play.
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
Trescothick too - he showed how it could be managed too continuing to have a magnificent first class career. I think England have been leaders in this area, but we are getting better. Kohli's support of Maxwell will do wonders for the cause in India.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
I’d have mental issues too if I had to face Johnson on that ashes tour.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Wow - great article Stephen - when you put that list together you can see the impact that playing under the spotlight and blowtorch has had over the years. To be honest I'm amazed at how some of them keep going mentally given the constant pressure they are under and the negative feedback they get in social media including sites like these. I'm thinking of blokes like Shane Watson, the Marsh brothers, Warner, Maxwell and Khawaja for starters. Young Will Pucovski is an interesting one. I'm no expert but you'd think there must be something else going on outside of cricket given he has barely started his cricketing career. Lets hope he's getting all the support he needs along with Maxwell and Maddinson.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Your forgetting foreign players too. Jonathan trott was one of the first to step forward really with mental health publicly as the reason. He was actual one of the pioneers this decade at getting it more readily accepted and was even joked and mocked at the time still.