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Jhye Richardson , Australia pacer revealed that he has been diagnosed with clinical anxiety. Richardson opened up on his mental health challenges that he has been facing since the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the right-arm pacer has played three Tests, 15 ODIs, and 18 T20Is and has taken 57 wickets combined. He made his T20I and Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2017 and 2019 respectively. In 2018, the Western Australia player made his ODI debut against England.
Richardson revealed that many of his struggles started during IPL 2021. For the unversed, the entire season of 2021 IPL was meant to be played in India. However, a few players were tested positive for COVID-19 and the tournament was postponed for the next few months. Richardson was part of the Punjab Kings team before the tournament was suspended till September 2021.
Jhye Richardson opens up on his long battle with clinical anxiet y
The 27-year-old last played for his national side in 2021-22. His career has been plagued by multiple injuries over the period of the last few years. Meanwhile, during an interview with Cricket.com.au, Richardson revealed his battle against clinical anxiety. The cricketer also revealed that many of his struggles started during the first leg of the IPL 2021 played in India.
“A lot of it started during Covid. My trip to the IPL – I left home not in the headspace that I probably should have been,” Richardson told cricket.com.au. He added, “Then things sort of hit the fan while I was away, and everything with COVID and not being able to get home and stuff like that, it just toppled on top of each other. I think you don’t realise what sort of space you’re in until it becomes too much, which is why now I encourage a lot of young cricketers to work on their mental health – even if they think that they’re going okay,”
Western Australia Cricket Association has been very supportive during this journey: Jhye Richardson
The right-arm pacer added that the Western Australia Cricket Association, for whom he plays in domestic cricket, has been helpful and mentioned that the resources within the game has made it easier, not just for him but for the other players to deal with the mental health challenges.
“A lot of the judgment (regarding mental health) has gone nowadays. Within our (WA) group we trust everyone with the way that they want to go about things. People are individuals – they train in different ways, they think differently. The resources within cricket nowadays make the process of dealing with mental health issues a lot easier and there is a lot more education there. But as someone who has dealt with anxiety, not just on the field but away from cricket and day-to-day living, it can be quite exhausting,” he added.
