‘Proud that we put the person first’: Lisa Keightley on mental health prioritisation
‘Proud that we put the person first’: Lisa Keightley on mental health prioritisation: An official statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said, “England Women all-rounder Nat Sciver has opted to withdraw from England Women’s Vitality IT20 and Royal London Series against India to focus on her mental health and wellness” (ECB).
Sciver was chosen to captain England in the series against India. For the past few months and across formats, the 30-year-old all-rounder has been the anchor of the English women’s cricket side. Do you all remember this year’s World Cup? That’s a given.
The only player to score two “unbeaten” hundreds against “that” Australian squad was Sciver, and you surely remember that. Let’s fast forward to the one-off Test between England and South Africa. Her score of 169* made her the game’s most valuable player.
She scored 228 runs in the Hundred over the course of six games, including an Eliminator 72* at a strike rate of 200. A batting performance was deemed “worthy of a win” by Anya Shrubsole, captain of the opposing team. A player of that caliber, who also plays in many formats of the game, can easily burn out due to the hectic cricket schedule.
The England team’s administration, led by coach Lisa Keightley, has placed a premium on players’ and coaches’ grasp of the concept and their ability to avoid it.
One month before the T20 World Cup in Australia, in February of 2020, Keightley took over as England’s head coach.
Taking against England’s defending T20 and ODI champions was a huge challenge for the ex-Australian player. Two months from now, however, the duties would go far beyond the cricket field, as the world would be plunged into the dark age of the Covid-19 pandemic. The moment when her “mental health really got impacted,” as she told the Indian Express in an interview.
Statements
“I guess in a way, we’re extremely blessed we’re still able to play the game in England,” she remarked. But I think inside of that was a reward, and that’s when people started using terms like “word bubble,” and we spent months away from our loved ones while holed up in a hotel. Over the past two and a half years, and mental health has been severely tested.
The ECB’s director of England women’s cricket, Jonathan Finch, recently referred to the time as the toughest they’ve faced off the field, and he praised Keightley for her management. According to the 51-year-old, we must put the needs of the individual ahead of those of the athlete.
“I don’t think there was a single person alive at the time who didn’t suffer. Positively, we made it through it as a unit, which is a significant achievement in itself. It was completely fine with us if players needed to leave the situation.”
We need to show compassion and understanding for others. If the situation arises, we must treat them as whole human beings, not just athletes, and provide them the help they need to recover, adapt, and return to international competition. Challenging. We gained a wealth of knowledge. However, I am pleased that we prioritized the individual.
Transition & chasing Australia
Although rarely discussed, the shift from one level of competition to another can be the most difficult for world winners. A job that was scheduled for Keightley and co. when she took over the England office. And one where England has proven to have some success, as this cricket summer has shown.
“I believe coming out of the bubbles where cricket wasn’t being played and in England in domestic cricket, it was pretty limited, and there weren’t many games going on,” Keightley explained.
“Since Covid has quieted down a little, domestic programs have been able to run…England has invested a lot of money into their domestic structures to make sure their transition from playing at that level to international cricket.”
“It is a lot smaller, and we’re seeing the transition of a player coming in and performing sooner than potentially it has in the past with those domestic structures supporting players in playing competitive cricket under pressure with crowds.”
Issy Wong, Alice Capsey, Lauren Bell, and even Bryony Smith have all broken through to make an impression on the competition this summer. And then you have Alice Davidson-Richards, who has played for England but hasn’t played in the regional program for a while but is doing exceptionally well in her first Test match against South Africa.
The end of the 2022 World Cup, in which England finished second to Australia, was seen by England’s head coach as the beginning of a new cycle that would allow younger players to gain experience in preparation for future World Cups, he said (T20 & ODI).
It’s clear that Australia is the team to beat, she remarked. To get ahead of them, you must adopt new strategies.
The Indian team of 2021 & 2022
Although it was only a year ago, the 2021 India tour of England already feels like ancient history. The 2022 England tour will consist of three Twenty20 Internationals and as many One-Day Internationals. It will be influenced by the ODI World Cup, Mithali Raj’s retirement, and India’s recent silver medal performance at the Commonwealth Games.
The Twenty20 International series squad features six new members as compared to the 2017 England squad. In Keightley’s opinion, modifications will lead to enhanced performance from the Indian national team.
According to her, “they’ve got four terrific seamers up front at present,” so they should be competitive and have choices in different regions of the world.
Then, it appears that they are aiming to increase the power throughout their batting order, not just at the beginning but also towards the end of an innings, to guarantee that they can hit the ball over the fence and maintain high strike rates.
They have undergone significant transitions in the past year to remain competitive, and it appears they now possess the necessary personnel to progress as a unit.
Read More: Graham Potter, the new Chelsea manager has three key targets from owners