Mental Health in Cricket: A New Study
At Sporting Chance, we are delighted to see more academic research being published on mental health amongst elite athletes. This recent study entitled: ‘UK professional male cricketers’ mental health and support experiences: A qualitative exploration’ was published in the Journal of Applied Sports Psychology earlier this year with an aim to bridge the gap between the rising media attention surrounding mental health in professional cricket and the support the professional cricketers, themselves, receive
The study focused on interviewing both current and former professional cricketers with 3 key themes emerging:
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The emotional rollercoaster that is a professional career in cricket.
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The different challenges that local support offers compared to national support.
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Nourishing vs malnourishing a player’s mental health.
The study concluded that the 18 professional men's cricket counties have an extremely important role to play in breaking down the stigma that is still attached to mental health in
cricket, as well as a responsibility to create a an open and supportive environment around emotional wellbeing, for all professional cricketers.
As well as this, our stakeholder, the Professional Cricketers Association, were highlighted and applauded for the steps that they have taken to provide a "valuable mental health support network for professional cricketers’" At Sporting Chance, we are always delighted to see our stakeholders receive well deserved praise!
As the discourse of mental health in sport continues to become more prevalent in today’s world, it is vital that academic research continues to be developed and published so that all relevant sporting organisations, including ourselves at Sporting Chance, can keep striving towards a world where there is parity between mental and physical heath in sport.
To read the full study, click here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10413200.2022.2040652