‘Proud that we put the person first’: Lisa Keightley on mental health prioritisation

Sciver would go on to lead England in the series against India. The 30-year-old all-rounder has been the backbone of England women’s cricket for the past few months, in all formats. Do you remember the World Cup earlier this year? Of course yes. And of course you remember how Sciver was the only player to score not one, but two hundred ‘undefeated’ against ‘that’ Australian team. Fast forward a bit to the one-off England-South Africa. 169* earned her the Player of the Match title. Most recently at The Hundred, she scored 228 runs in six starts that included a 72* with a 200 strike rate in Eliminator. A tackle that was cited by opposition captain Anya Shrubsole as ‘deserving of a win’. A player this good, who plays multiple game formats, is the first to be cooked up in the crazy cricket calendar. And it’s something that the England team’s management under manager Lise Keightley has put particular emphasis on.

Keightley took over as England head coach in January 2020, just a month before the T20 World Cup in Australia. England were the defending T20 and ODI champion and the task at hand was a big one for the former Australia player. But within two months, the responsibilities would transcend the cricket field and the world would be thrust into the dark ages of COVID-19 pandemic. A time when “mental health was really challenged,” as she shared with the indian express in an exclusive interaction.

💬They look pretty tired but I think that will get better the more we get used to playing so much cricket.💬

England manager Lisa Keightley hailed her side’s “exciting summer” after they capped off the match-packed season with a 4-1 ODI series victory over New Zealand.

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 27, 2021

“For England, I guess in a way we are very lucky to be able to continue playing,” he said. “But within that, I guess, came an award and that’s when the word bubble was released and we spent long periods of time away from family and friends, living in a hotel. It was really difficult and mental health was really challenged in the last two and a half years.

Jonathan Finch, the ECB’s director of England women’s cricket, recently called the period the most difficult they have faced off the pitch and praised Keightley for his management during it. In the words of the 51-year-old, it is about prioritizing the person over the athlete.

“I don’t think anyone during that time didn’t suffer at some point. The nice thing is that we managed to get through it as a group. If players needed to get out of that environment, we were very open to that, we understood that. We have to be empathetic and take care of people. If it does come up, we have to take them as people and not as athletes and make sure they get all the support they need to get back to feeling in the best place to deal with what they’re going through and then transition back back into international sport. Challenging. I definitely learned a lot. But I’m proud that we put the person first.”

Transition and chasing Australia

As little is said, the challenge of transition is the most difficult for the world champions. One that was lined up for Keightley & co. when he took over the job from England. And one that this summer of cricket showed that England have been capable of quite a bit of success.

“I think he came out of the bubbles where cricket wasn’t played and in England, domestic cricket was very limited and there weren’t many games so he didn’t get a chance to watch many other players. Keightley said.

“Since Covid has calmed down a bit and the domestic programs have been able to run… England have put a lot of money into their domestic structures to make sure their transition from playing at that level to playing international cricket is much smaller and we are seeing the transition of a player coming in and performing earlier than he potentially has been in the past with those national structures supporting players in the competitive game of cricket under pressure with crowds in the Hundreds.”

“Take care of this cap because you will never have a first one again.”@KBrunt26 submitted @Wongi95 his England Test cap yesterday. ❤️

🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴 #ENGvSA 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/FtXOPJh13L

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 28, 2022

“You’ve seen Issy Wong, Alice Capsey, Lauren Bell and even Bryony Smith show up this summer and make an impact on the competition. And then you have someone like Alice Davidson-Richards, who played for England, she hasn’t played for a number of years on the regional program and she comes in for the test match (against South Africa) and she performs extremely well.”

The England head coach believes the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup, where England were only second best behind Australia, has brought the team into a new cycle, providing opportunities for new players ahead of the next World Cups. (T20 and ODI).

“We know Australia is the team we’re after,” he said. “To chase them, you have to make changes.”

The Indian team of 2021 and 2022

Even though it was only a year ago, it seems like India’s tour of England happened a long time ago. The ODI World Cup, Raj’s retirement from Mithali and the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, where India defeated the hosts en route to the silver medal, all played their part in setting up the team that visits England for three T20Is and as many ODIs in 2022. A total of six changes have been made to the roster for the T20I series in England from last year. Changes that Keightley believes will help India improve further as a team.

“They seem to have a good transition of closers that will make them competitive and give them options in different parts of the world, they have four good closers up front right now,” he said.

“Then it looks like they’re trying to add a little more power through their (batting) order and not just up but towards the end of an inning to make sure they can clear the cap and have good strike rates. They’ve made a lot of changes in the last 12 months to keep up with the game and it definitely looks like they have the players to help them get better as a team.”

Watch LIVE coverage of England Women vs India Women 2022 – 1st T20i on Sony TEN 1 and SONY TEN 1 HD channels on September 10, 2022 from 11:30 pm IST