When you think of cricket, you might picture a classic scene on an English village green: spectators on deckchairs and checkered blankets enjoying a traditional cricket tea, while players in pristine white uniforms occasionally shout “howzat?!” This genteel and stereotypically English image of cricket can be far from the truth. Beyond a potentially tough and exclusive working culture, cricket demands tremendous endurance, resilience, and skill. Indeed, test cricket is often described as “the ultimate test.” Research from Loughborough University highlights that a professional cricket career has significant highs and lows, which can both encourage mental wellbeing and lead to mental health issues and reduced performance.
Freddie Flintoff’s latest docuseries, Field of Dreams On Tour, a follow-up to his 2022 series where he assembled a cricket team from a diverse group of young men in Preston, UK, showcases the complex link between cricket and the mental health of its players. Flintoff, a former international cricketer and coach for England, has spoken openly about his personal struggles with mental health, including depression and bulimia, during and after his cricket career. The second series of Field of Dreams follows Flintoff as he takes his team on a cricket tour to India, revealing their triumphs and setbacks, and illustrating how cricket can both aid and challenge mental health. Flintoff and his team are not alone in facing mental health challenges. Cricket has a history of mental health issues, including instances of suicide. For more than thirty years, cricket writer David Frith researched the suicides of cricket players, publishing two books on this topic.
In his 2001 book, he noted that “cricket has an alarming suicide rate. Among international players for England and several other countries it is far above the national average for all sports.” Frith suggested that the “loss” of cricket impacts players deeply, and he may have a point. A study in the UK found that “all of the participants had negative feelings regarding the end of their career, with a sense of loss and resentment marking the period after retirement.” Many elite athletes have a strong but focused sense of identity, deeply tied to their sport. When they leave sport, they can feel as though they lose a piece of themselves along with their career.
The shift from being an active player to retiring can resemble a grieving process. However, research indicates that a supportive family can help reduce the risk of depression and suicide by enhancing a player’s sense of identity outside their sport. Elite athletes dealing with the end of their careers sometimes turn to alcohol, drugs, and gambling to deal with their feelings of loss. A 2023 study suggests that while athletes might not be more prone to suicide than the general population, various factors such as misuse of performance-enhancing substances, stress from sports, injuries, drug abuse, emotional disorders, and mental and physical illnesses in sport, increase their risk of suicide both during their active career and after retirement.
Nonetheless, as more and more players share their experiences of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, the stigma around mental health is gradually being dismantled. After the death of retired cricketer Graham Thorpe in August 2024, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa opened up about his mental health challenges. He stated, “I recently heard about Graham Thorpe and several cricketers who have taken their lives due to depression. In the past, we’ve learned of athletes and cricketers who ended their lives because of clinical depression. I personally have been there too. It’s definitely not a pleasant journey. It’s overwhelming, exhausting, and heavy. It feels burdensome.” Uthappa is not alone in these sentiments.
Retired cricketer Phil Tufnell has shared his own struggles with mental health, noting that the national team “didn’t know how to assist players dealing with mental health issues during his time.” Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has also been candid about his mental health, recalling a time during an England tour in 2014 when he struggled with the yips. Kohli remembered: “And even just getting out of bed, dressing for the game and going out there, knowing you might fail was something that consumed me. It shattered me completely.” However, not all former players criticize how cricket addresses mental health. In 2016, former professional cricketer Graeme Fowler talked about his experience with clinical depression, arguing that cricket is at the forefront of addressing mental health compared to other sports. However, support is often reactive, provided when problems arise, rather than being preventative from the beginning of a player’s career.
Yet, players’ willingness to open up could be contributing to change. In 2022, England’s test captain Ben Stokes returned after a break for mental health reasons. He revealed to BBC Breakfast, “It was like I had a bottle where I kept storing my emotions. Eventually, it became too full and just burst.” For instance, mental health initiatives in cricket are on the rise. The charity Opening Up Cricket, established in memory of wicketkeeper Alex Miller, who died by suicide in 2012, is one such initiative. While Flintoff and his peers work hard to break the stigma, cricket authorities must create supportive environments that sustain players’ mental health both during and after their cricket careers.