Austraia/SL/Pakistan - T20s

[Pies4shaw]

The final 2 overs went for 2 runs, total.

[Pies4shaw]

106 from their 20. Richardson 3 wickets, Abbott and Starc each 2, Agar 1, Stanlake 0.

[Donny]

Aussies 0/45 after 5 overs.

Aaron Finch 30* from 18 balls.

[Donny]

0/75 after 8 overs.

Finch 33* (23), Warner 37* (25).

[Donny]

Aussies win by 10 wickets.

Finch 52* from 38 balls.

[Pies4shaw]

Steve Bradsmith named player of the series. Another accident, I suppose.

[K]

Glenn Maxwell has 'set the right example for cricketers around the world' - Virat Kohli

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28070057/glenn-maxwell-set-right-example-cricketers-world-virat-kohli

" "I'm absolutely for it," Kohli said ... "To be very honest, you guys have a job to do, we have a job to do, and everyone is focused on what they need to do. So it's very difficult for anyone to figure out what's going on in another person's mind.

"I've gone through a phase in my career where I felt like it was the end of the world. In England 2014, I didn't know what to do, what to say to anyone, and how to speak and how to communicate. And to be honest, I couldn't have said I'm not feeling great mentally and I need to get away from the game. Because you never know how that's taken.

"So I think these things should be of great importance. Because if you think that a player is important enough, for the team or for Indian cricket to go forward, I think they should be looked after. When you get to the international stage, every player needs that communication, that ability to just speak out.

"And I think what Glenn has done is remarkable. And [he has] set the right example for cricketers around the world that if you're not in the best frame of mind - you try, and try and try, but as human beings you reach a tipping point at some stage or the other. And you need time away from the game. Not to say you give up, but just to gain more clarity."
...

Apart from Kohli's thoughts on the issue, mental health has not been a widely discussed topic in Indian cricket. The associated taboos and insecurity act as major deterrents against players either coming out or asking for breaks. Kohli said players should be encouraged to be open and seek help when needed.

"[...] In my opinion, [a break] is quite acceptable." he said. "And quite nice to do when you're not able to carry on any more. So I think these things should be respected and not taken in a negative way at all because this is happening at a human level, it's got nothing to do with what you do on the field. It's just not having the capacity any more to deal with things, which I think can happen to any person in any walk of life. I think it should be taken in a very positive way." "

[Pies4shaw]

His absence greatly weakens the middle order and denies us a large chunk of the entertainment value of any T20 game involving Australia. It is to be hoped he gets back into the team soon.

[K]

Baum:

Funny game no laughing matter

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/funny-game-no-laughing-matter-20191115-p53b1t.html

[K]

Geoff Lawson:

"Glenn Maxwell was the first of the three players to withdraw from cricket, this time during the T20 series against Pakistan. Three top payers walking away when their games are peaking rather than failing, Maddinson and Pucovski for the second time in their careers, inside a couple of weeks begs the question of an epidemic of mental health problems in the national game.
...

The scrutiny of contemporary sportspeople is frightening, a thousand times more pervasive than the 1980s or before. Back then, journalists on tours would not report anything outside cricket hours, the public had cameras with rolls of film that needed the chemist shop to develop into hard copies. Nothing was instant, feedback took time and that gave opportunity for consideration and moderation. Today it's all knee-jerk, often from complete jerks.

The internet was an echo of the Cold War rather than weapon of the hacker or influencer – yet mental health issues affected about the same number of people. You just didn't hear about it. In hindsight, I have played with teammates who had the symptoms of depression. We just told them to stop being "soft", to "harden up" or "just get on with it". Losing can make you unhappy but that is an altogether different beast to depression.

My personal introspection on depression in the clinical sense was when I was physically injured and faced the prospect of never playing the game again, even though I had another very worthy profession to fall back on. In the "amateur" days before full-time contracts in the mid-1990s, players who felt the game was too tough physically or mentally, who were scared of the next day's play or the next game, who would revel in a rainy day, always had a "real" job to fall back on. They didn't have to face the pressure of having cricket as a living, where a poor decision, a bad pitch or a lucky catch could be the end of a career.

Which is not to say that their depression dissipated; it was just removed from the cricket environment. There was one particular very talented player who had the skills to play Test cricket but never made it. We had the saying about him that "he's only happy when he's unhappy". Teammates made light of his funks and his attitude, and it didn't help.

Cricket is a game of tortuous, extended, mental toughness – minds not at their best are found out. Physical harm can follow mental errors. Fortunately, players today are encouraged to open up and talk and share – it's a better time and place to be. That's not to say that cricket itself has a particular problem, but it's working hard on providing support and answers."

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/ca-hits-right-note-on-mental-health-but-bancroft-selection-baffles-20191116-p53b7b.html

[K]

J. Pierik:

"Cricket Australia, for instance, is working with mental health group Orygen, and is about to conduct its third survey of players in recent years to see if there is a better way of handling problems.

... Maxwell and Maddinson returned to Premier cricket on Saturday, while those close to Pucovski say he is likely to also be available for next week's Sheffield Shield clash against NSW.
...

As one grizzled veteran pointed out, Ashes tours once gave players a change to decompress during the myriad of matches against county sides. The tours may have been longer than now but they at least had periods where they was more of a genteel feel. Now it's more or less go, go, go.
...

Maxwell's issues are related to a demanding 2019. He did opt against partaking in the IPL earlier this year, choosing to join the county scene in England in a bid to push his Ashes tour hopes ahead of joining the World Cup squad. Pucovski and Maddinson also avoided the IPL, and burnout has not been linked to their issues.

But with a heightened focus on mental health, officials are keeping a close eye on whether players now begin to put their long-term health ahead of even the T20 circuit and take a good break when the opportunity arises, which wellbeing experts say can help to nullify the threat of potential issues.

On the flipside, player managers maintain Cricket Australia should be willing to hand out multi-year contracts to their top talent, with a financial kicker thrown in should they choose to rest and avoid overseas T20 tournaments. Cummins and his management remain at the forefront of this bid but CA has shown no signs of budging.

Mental health is a serious issue but when it comes to the almighty dollar, it's hoped sense can prevail."

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/sport-thought-cricket-s-chance-to-be-healthy-wealthy-and-wise-20191121-p53cn1.html

[K]

Baum:

"Yes, full-length events can be tedious, but they produce true epics. In nearly all sports, longer contests call on more of a sportsman’s abilities and a team’s coherence. The drama is enlarged, the sense of achievement is proportionately greater. The substance sticks in the memory, not between your teeth. A shorter event’s only lasting virtue is that it’s short.

Yet the trend is to cut down, maybe even dumb down. Ed Cowan said of T20 years ago: you get paid a lot more for being not quite as good.

So where does it all end? Each time you shorten an event, you re-set the concentration span needed for it, and so soon enough you have to shorten it again. It’s a spiral, and it’s corkscrewing down before our eyes."

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/lights-camera-cut-20191206-p53hnk.html

[K]

'I was pretty cooked': Burnout, criticism led to Maxwell's mental health break

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/i-was-pretty-cooked-burnout-and-harsh-internal-criticism-led-to-glenn-maxwell-s-mental-health-break-20191213-p53jtq.html

'"It all caught up with me at that time ... You go through a lot of waves of emotions over the first few weeks [of the break] and especially that first week, that was probably the hardest.''

He said his ''amazing support network'' was a key to getting back to good health.
...

"I did put a bit of pressure on myself to try and play as much as I could this year and, rightly or wrongly, I didn’t come out of it the way I thought I was going to."

As well as his partner, Maxwell also sought counsel from Cricket Australia psychologist Michael Lloyd, renowned sports psychiatrist Ranjit Menon, Moises Henriques (who also lives with mental illness) and other Australian cricketers.

He said social media wasn't something that had an impact on his mental health, however his own internal voice had.'

[K]