‘I’d worry about my children, money. How am I going to pay mortgage?’: Ex-England star opens up on mental health battle

England all-rounder Ben Stokes looked skyward to celebrate his ton against the West Indies in the second Test in Barbados. He gave a crooked finger salute in tribute to his late father, Ged, who passed away due to brain cancer in September 2020. Stokes has had his fair share of issues, which even caused him to take a break from the sport last year. . He also linked up with the demands of living in a covid-19 bubble that took a toll on his mental health.

It is never an easy task coping with the demands of being a professional and many cricket stars have prioritized their mental health over the game. While some players have faced the problem during their gaming days, some have had a rough period after quitting. Former England international Ryan Sidebottom, who represented England between 2001 and 2010, has also spoken out about mental health issues after retiring from the sport.

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Sidebottom felt a “huge void” without the calendar and the financial element also kicking in after regular cricket revenue stopped. The 44-year-old Yorkshire-born pacemaker also revealed that he used to worry about children and money, eventually ending up getting angry and agitated at times.

“I had days where there was massive self-sabotage. I was thinking about the past, I was worrying about the future. I was worrying about my kids, money. How am I going to pay the mortgage? How am I going to house my wife, my kids? “What’s my next step in life? And I had days where I was just angry, agitated. That would have been in the morning and then in the afternoon I’d be really excited and I wouldn’t know why,” Sidebottom told the BBC.

Sidebottom retired from international cricket in 2010. He announced in 2017 that he would retire from first class cricket in all formats, starting at the end of the County Championship.

Sidebottom, who was also part of England’s T20 World Cup winning squad in 2010, credited his wife and friends with getting him through the “dark days”. He stressed talking things over with people and getting them off their backs.

“I was frustrated with my wife, internally frustrated and had a lot of horrible feelings. I wasn’t sleeping very well because of every negative thought about the past, the future. They’ve really struggled mentally and it’s nice that I can talk about it and expose it and say: Look, it’s okay to not be okay.

“Talk really, really helps. I have been very fortunate to have my wife and some very close friends who have really helped me through those dark days and those horrible feelings, just to talk and get it off my chest,” she explained.