Cricket's grey area of grey matter

Flying cars and robots should have been the raging buzzwords as we stand on the brink of the third decade of the twentieth century. Instead, it's the novel coronavirus and mental health. While cricket has bio-wrapped itself into functionality despite the former's nasty presence, it has been late to catch the bus on the latter. 

Tom Banton is the latest in a series of confiders who've preferred listening to their head over heart. The young right-hander withdrew himself from participating in the 2020-21 edition of the Big Bash League on Saturday, stating that living in back to back bio-secure bubbles has taken a toll on his frame of mind. “It has been harder than I thought spending so much time in the hubs and bubbles and I came to the realization that it wasn’t doing me much good,” Banton conceded on his tough decision to head home. 

Earlier, bona fide revelations from across the Tasman shook the cricketing world to its core. Tired of sporting the mask of machismo to obscure an emotionally wretched soul beneath, Glenn Maxwell opted for an indefinite break from the game in October 2019. A month later, Nic Maddinson went down the same route in a bid to conquer his mental demons. Will Pucovski, for the second time in the year, had suffered from a relapse on the cusp of a potential Test debut. 

These weren't just four elite sportsmen baring their souls though. These were young men who had learned to live in a bubble that has historically glorified strength and vilified weakness, exposing which seemed like a blot on their career graphs. By reaching out for help, they'd not only prevented their own exhausted selves from a potential burnout but also filed a timely reminder for the sport to look after its children, more so now than ever before. 

"Top-flight sport is a part and parcel of the entertainment industry now. The unyielding pressure of performance on athletes has led to them becoming victims, and being exploited and manipulated to survive so that the system that the sport landscape is in thrives. And the athletes do reach a breaking point where it is humanly impossible to sustain their appetite for such an endeavour," renowned sports psychologist Sandy Gordon tackled the elephant in the room in Volume II of The Athletic Dilemma. 

"When you are engaged in a sport at that level, there's a burning desire to succeed and avoid failure. But they produce paradoxical, countervailing effects. Elite athletes need to have an obsessiveness in the perfectionism and be ruthless and selfish to hone their craft. All these things facilitate success but also undermine mental health," adds Gordon, who is currently an associate professor of sports and exercise psychology at the University of Western Australia. 

This claustrophobic cauldron where players are always under the pump and have to wade through incessant scrutiny is a breeding ground for mental health problems. With jampacked international calendars and the dangling carrot of lucrative franchise leagues, the horse has bolted on the effective management of an athlete's physical workload. The onus of that now lies within the individual himself. But as far as mental harmony is concerned, there's still a lot of scope for sports bodies to find ways of providing better support systems to their disciples. The bottom line remains to inculcate a considerate atmosphere where a player who is feeling the heat internally can speak up in his defence without having to worry about the furore of judgement. 

"There's still a fear of how it will be perceived by people. Why do you need to go to someone? It might not fit with the image of sports, which glorifies strength and perseverance," highlights Divya Jain, who spearheads the Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences at Fortis Healthcare in Delhi. 

"Like they'll say a person has a weak character or personality. Or it's related directly to some sort of stress. They should or can snap out of it. We need to start treating it as a physical illness. It's like someone taking a few months off work because they've had a fracture. Just like anyone can get injured at any time, the same can happen with mental illness. It needs to have a preventive and curative component,'' Divya explained in an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz. 

Slowly but steadily, cricket is also broadening its horizons to various other taboos. Rajasthan Royals donned the logo of a sanitary pad brand on their jerseys, a step the owners believed will help fight the stigma around something as natural as menstrual cycles. BCCI granting expectant father Virat Kohli a paternity leave during the marquee series against Australia was a trailblazer welcomed with open arms by public and pundits alike. The game has even progressed by leaps and bounds when it comes to the safety and overall protection of the protagonists involved, with robust developments in helmet manufacturing and the much-anticipated law of concussion substitute coming to the fore. 

However, it isn't a utopian universe just yet. Those watching from close quarters are often found indulging in verbal diarrhoea whilst turning a blind eye towards the primary concern of a player's well-being. The most recent case in point being Ravindra Jadeja copping a blow flush on the helmet grille which met a vile remark by controversy's favourite son, Sunil Gavaskar. “On the business of concussion substitute itself, I don’t agree with it. Maybe I am old-fashioned, I have always believed that if you are not good enough to play the bouncer and you get hit on the helmet, then you don’t deserve a substitute. I am sorry,” the senior pro blabbered with an absolute lack of empathy. 

Gavaskar's unabashedness needs to be perceived with a pinch of salt. Even the most prolific of pullers and hookers can occasionally err in acumen and disallowing a concussion substitute in that scenario defeats the whole purpose of the amendment. Dizzying concussions can prove to be fatal in worst-case scenarios and hence, a 'safe than sorry' approach should be adopted at all times. Further advancements in helmet technology and a bit of compassion from the commentating custodians is essential for the greater good of the game. 

Cricket's aim to shatter the mental health glass ceiling is a work in progress. For the moment, we can make peace with the fact that the fraternity is at least willing to offer a shoulder of support when a player experiences difficulties in keeping his head above the water. 

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