First there was Marcus Trescothick, sleepless in a hotel in India, shuddering out of an England tour, an England career. Then Mike Yardy, a world Twenty20 winner suddenly laid low. Several past and present England internationals – an entire slip cordon – followed suit. The reasons they cite are various: stress, homesickness, even "going cuckoo". But the catch-all term that physicians prefer is more familiar: depression.
Now Jonathan Trott, for four years the embodiment of the self-absorbed sporting hardman, has followed suit, leaving Australia on Mondayafter one test of the Ashes series. "Trotty has been suffering from a stress-related condition for quite a while," said his coach, Andy Flower. "I don't feel it is right that I'm playing knowing that I'm not 100% and I cannot currently operate at the level I have done in the past," said Trott himself. We cannot know yet the exact nature of his indisposition; his sudden departure suggests a serious setback.
It also raises a broader question. Does cricket have a problem? Is there something about the game, the combination of luck, bloody-mindedness, unpredictability and caprice that can drive a person over the edge? Or is it the other way around: that the kind of people who make it to the top of this game are the kind of intense, driven individuals whose very self-obsession makes them more vulnerable to mental illness?
A survey earlier this year conducted by the benevolent fund of the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) asked 500 cricketers present and past a range of questions about mental and physical health. It found 5% of those surveyed had sought help for mental health problems. The global figure is roughly equivalent: depression is a condition that affects about 5% of the world's population, according to the World Health Organisation. That's 350 million people.
Trescothick is not sure cricket is anything special – though he has certainly noticed that since he came clean, other players will come asking him for advice. "I've spoken to people along the way," he said in a recent interview. "Some people asking a few questions, someone might call on behalf of someone else to find out about it. Some people want to talk, say 'I've struggled with this or that.' I just tend to listen. I can't advise on a clinical level. Some of it is similar to my own story.. It's a problem of stress. Everyone has their own pressure and anxiety that they live their life by. Just because I play cricket doesn't mean to say I'm more vulnerable. It's no different from any other walk of life."
Graeme Fowler is not so sure. "I went from making a double hundred for England to being in the Lancashire seconds four months later," says Fowler. "There were massive ups and downs."
All sports have their ups and downs of course, and cricket is not alone in producing sports stars with depression. Ian Thorpe , Robert Enke, Frank Bruno, John Kirwan, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Lennon. But like me, Fowler finds himself wondering "whether cricket attracts a certain type of person, or cricket makes you a certain type of person". It's often said that cricket is a game played in the head. But how much of the fitness regimes, the net practice, the tactical and strategic preparations are concerned with what a player is thinking about?
I don't know what we are on about here to be honest with you. I haven't seen anyone dealing with such issues in India. It might be the case in England though.
I don't even know why mental health is not paid proper attention to. If they had, they wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place. Same with Trescothick scenario. I don't know how this works out in subcontinent - if a lot of "batting slumps" for some players where result of depression. Idk - hard to tell.
Also maybe in this case, defo Ashes pressure wouldn't have made it any easier for him.
