Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
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STEVE HARMISON fears there will be more England cricketers whose careers are cut short by mental illness unless they are given extended periods of rest.
In his prime as the world’s No.1-ranked Test bowler, Harmison managed to conceal his darkest secret – that he was struggling with emotional turbulence, anxiety and classic symptoms of clinical depression.
He was so tortured by his demons that he contemplated crashing his car deliberately en route to the airport to give him an excuse to skip a long tour abroad.
In the last 11 years alone, England have been forced to evacuate Marcus Trescothick, Michael Yardy and Jonathan Trott from tours or the World Cup because of stress-related illness or depression.
Harmison’s own case was explained away as homesickness when the reality was much more acute.
The 2005 Ashes hero, who took 226 wickets in 63 Tests over seven years, reveals in his autobiography Speed Demons that he was treated at a Priory clinic in Manchester – and he has been on a repeat prescription for antidepressants ever since.
Mental illness, and cricket’s approach to it, is a recurring – and alarming – theme in Harmison’s book and if it doesn’t ring any bells with the blazers at Lord’s, there is nobody at home in the belfry.
England begin their defence of the Ashes in 160 days in Australia, where Trott’s departure, with symptoms of burn-out, accelerated their calamitous 5-0 whitewash four years ago.
“I think there will be more players who end up like me, needing professional help from psychologists, and that’s why we’ve got to box clever when we manage their workloads,” said Harmison.
“People get the wrong impression about The Priory – it’s not all about celebrities coming off the booze and checking in for a two-week detox.
“I went there six times, for between an hour and 90 minutes each session.
“The doctor described symptoms of clinical depression – low mood, feeling sad, no energy, low self-esteem, lack of sleep – and I thought he was actually describing me.
“There are some really good people in the England set-up now – some are still there from when I was playing – and we need to listen to them.
“When you schedule the last international fixture of the summer for September 29 and put England on the plane to Australia three weeks later, you are asking for trouble.
“But the schedule isn’t going to change any time soon, so we need to look after our assets more than ever, like Beefeaters guarding the Crown Jewels.
“I hope the players’ time off won’t be trimmed even more by any ‘bonding’ trips or boot camps because the last one, before they went to Australia, was laughable – three days of stakeouts and playing daft surveillance games.
“Somehow we’ve got to find five racehorses – and I’m talking about bowlers here, because you can’t win Test matches without taking 20 wickets – who are not undercooked by the first Ashes Test in November and can last the course until January.
“No disrespect to the West Indies, because I enjoyed some of my best days in Test cricket against them, but we are playing them at the back end of the summer and at the moment they are borderline shambles. Let’s make wholesale changes, give everyone a rest, and protect our key assets ahead of the Ashes.
“I’m not usually a fan of giving Test caps away, but, if we have earmarked people as future England players, let’s fast-forward their development and throw them in against the Windies because we need to keep our powder dry for Australia.
“The only player from this Champions Trophy squad who should play in that series is Joe Root because he hasn’t even captained England in a Test match yet and he needs to get used to the dynamics of the job before the Ashes.”
Harmison warned that burnout from international cricket’s relentless demands should not preclude players from earning fortunes, and mingling with the world’s best, at the Indian Premier League.
England superstar Ben Stokes and Aussie skipper Steve Smith were team-mates at Rising Pune Supergiant earlier this year and Harmison believes access to the revenue streams and broader knowledge should remain open for our top cricketers.
He said: “I’m sitting here now in a hotel lobby and, out of the corner of my eye, I can see Ben Stokes and Steve Smith having a cup of tea.
“They had played against each other before, but that friendship has been augmented by them being on the same side at the IPL, where you can only learn from playing with some of the world’s best cricketers. “These are two world-class performers trading stories and little secrets, bouncing ideas off each other, sharing knowledge and experience.
“You’re not going to tell me that Stokes isn’t a better player for mixing with people like Smith at the IPL.
“Yes, the pay’s great – but you are getting so much more than money out of a tournament like that.”
We need to protect our stars like we do the Crown Jewels