Fit-again Richardson reveals mental health challenges

While Jhye Richardson hopes a desperate desire to pull on the Baggy Green again can be fulfilled with a new method to steeling his body, the fast bowler has revealed the even greater challenges he has faced off the field.

As he prepares for his latest tilt at adding to his three Tests, Richardson has bravely opened up on being diagnosed with clinical anxiety in the hope it will encourage other cricketers to prioritise their mental health.

The Western Australian’s struggles came to a head three years ago when COVID-19 derailed the Indian Premier League season he was involved in, leaving players stranded abroad due to Australia's strict biosecurity rules.

"A lot of it started during COVID. My trip to the IPL – I left home not in the headspace that I probably should have been," Richardson told cricket.com.au.

"Then things sort of hit the fan while I was away, and everything with COVID and not being able to get home and stuff like that, it just toppled on top of each other.

"I think you don't realise what sort of space you're in until it becomes too much, which is why now I encourage a lot of young cricketers to work on their mental health – even if they think that they're going okay.

"It's like practicing for the short ball. The more you practice the short ball, the better you're going to be at it when that situation arises out in the middle. It's very similar off the field.

"Everything just got to a point where there was some professional intervention that needed to happen.

"I'm not willing to go into a whole lot of detail, but I just landed in a spot where things were bad enough that I stepped back and said, 'I can't continue thinking the way that I am' and (needed) to get a bit more education and knowledge about how the brain works."

Richardson has credited the Western Australia Cricket Association for supporting him with that education in the ensuing years, suggesting he is now better equipped to handle challenges that have come on top of his litany of physical issues.

His involvement in the professional e-sports team, Ground Zero Gaming, he is an investor in has also been a welcome pursuit away from cricket.

"A lot of the judgment has gone nowadays," the 27-year-old said in regards to mental health. "Within our (WA) group we trust everyone with the way that they want to go about things. People are individuals – they train different ways, they think differently.

"The resources within cricket nowadays make the process of dealing with mental health issues a lot easier and there is a lot more education there.

"But as someone who has dealt with anxiety, not just on the field but away from cricket and day-to-day living, it can be quite exhausting."

Richardson hopes his body can prove equally as resilient having had his immensely promising international career stalled by injury.

The right-armer has undergone surgery to both his right shoulder and right hamstring, suffering subsequent setbacks in both problem areas, while a side strain ended his summer early when he went down during the KFC BBL in January.

Shoulder issues have continued to dog him and he remains unable to throw from the outfield. He has instead worked on bowling returns in from the boundary, an approach that actually got him a run-out during BBL09.

Richardson admits he had to go back to the drawing board during the off-season.

"It's been a bit of a process, and what we've done in the last couple of years hasn't necessarily worked," he said. "So we’ve taken a bit of a different approach this pre-season."

After identifying that he had previously tended to throw himself back into high-intensity cricket too early after recovering from injuries, Richardson has instead prioritised building up a solid body of bowling through the winter to ensure he has the "legs" to avoid recurrences.

He played a solitary match during this year's IPL at Delhi Capitals but continued bowling twice a week upon his return to Perth, stepping back up through the gears when he played three games for the Scorchers in their Top End T20 series in Darwin.

Richardson has also ditched an experiment with a shorter run-up, going back to the approach that netted him 11 Test wickets at 22.09 and a match-winning haul of 5-42 in Adelaide in his most recent match during the last home Ashes in 2021-22.

The esteem in which selectors hold the whippy quick has been highlighted by remaining nationally contracted over the past two years despite not playing an international match in any format since mid-2022.

"Obviously it's been frustrating. I think what held me together is knowing that when I can get back to competitive cricket, I do still enjoy it," said Richardson, who could come into the mix to face India this summer if he can stay fit.

"I know what it's like to play Test cricket and I desperately want to get back there.

"I've only had tastes of it in the last couple of years, but knowing that when I do get back there, I do have fun playing cricket, which is why we all begin to play in the first place.

"I know if I get a decent crack at it, hopefully I can showcase some skills that allow me to get to the next level. I want to play Test cricket again. I want to play for Australia again.

"Ultimately, it's just not letting go of that goal and keeping that within reach and doing everything I can to get my body right to get back there. That's the dream of every young cricketer.

"I've had a bit of a taste of it before, so in that sense it's a good thing knowing what it's like, because it drives you to get back there."

Western Australia's men's season gets underway with a pair of one-day games in Sydney on September 22 and 24, before beginning their Marsh Sheffield Shield title defence on October 8 at home to Queensland.

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