Bubbles must avoid ‘excessive’ mental health toll: CA medical chief

Cricket Australia’s medical experts have acknowledged the cumulative mental health impacts of bio-secure bubbles as the governing body searches for Ashes protocols acceptable to state and federal governments and the England touring team.

Players and staff have spoken of “bubble fatigue” for much of the past year, with numerous male and female cricketers taking time out of their careers to spend more time at home. England’s players are desperate to avoid harsher quarantine measures before they venture to Australia this summer.

England and Australia will both be hoping for less restrictive bio-security protocols during this summer’s Ashes series.Credit:AP

In an article for the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, CA’s mental health lead Matt Burgin and chief medical officer, Dr John Orchard, wrote that the increasing number of players seeking respite from bio-secure bubbles and two-week periods of hard quarantine showed how much their resilience was being tested by COVID-19.

“The stress associated with competition hubs may have had a cumulative impact, and it is possible that the negative effects were experienced weeks and months after the event,” they wrote. “Athletes, often lauded for high levels of resilience, are being challenged to adapt and develop new ways of coping to maintain their mental health and wellbeing.

“While much of the reported symptoms associated with bio-security hubs can be sub-clinical, there is a limit to the players resources and tolerance of this way of life. Players anecdotally reported the avoidance of ‘hard quarantine’ [14-day hotel quarantine] as a factor in decision-making for involvement in further cricket competitions.”

Burgin and Orchard welcomed instances where players made decisions to step away from the game temporarily in order to prioritise their mental health, describing it as a “cultural shift” for sport in Australia. At the same time, they stressed that a balance needed to be found between bio-security and the avoidance of “excessive” mental health costs to the players.

“Should there be a silver lining to a bleak situation, it has been the confirmation of players taking ownership for their mental health,” Burgin and Orchard wrote. “The widespread acceptance of players making personal decisions to prioritise their mental health is a cultural shift for Australian sport and is supported by Cricket Australia.

“Players seeking to have ‘time at home’ is the preferred opportunity cost to further involvement in cricket. These breaks are temporary and illustrate a welcomed balance in the player’s self-awareness.

“It is hoped that following seasons will see vaccination of players and staff and a gradual relaxation of necessary protocols that will allow players a return to relative normality. Until then, there will need to be a balance of protocols to keep COVID out of the sport, but with a level of rigour that does not take an excessive toll on the mental health of participants.”

In the same newsletter, The Professional Cricketers Association director of development and welfare services, Ian Thomas, articulated the mounting costs of bio-security to the mental health of cricketers. Since the start of the global pandemic, England’s players have toured far more widely and often than Australia’s.

“I don’t think people truly understand what it’s like to be in a bio-secure bubble and the commitment that is needed, until you’ve been in that bubble,” Thomas said. “I sat on a call yesterday where there was a study done into this by the ECB and I think the burnout and almost imprisonment of players in these bio-secure bubbles shouldn’t be underestimated.”

Ben Stokes took time out from the game earlier this year and appears unlikely to return in time for the Ashes. The Brisbane Heat’s Tom Banton, meanwhile, recently pulled out of this summer’s Big Bash League to spend more time at home in the UK. Thomas said that time away from family and friends added up.

“One of the most important things that can’t be underestimated, aside from the cricket, is the players’ loss of contact with their friends and family,” Thomas said. “Yes, they can use FaceTime, but we’re all burned out from living on screens and it is a huge commitment to say ‘I’m going to stay in the hotel with my teammates so we can play cricket’, but they can’t see their families for weeks on end.”

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