Suzie Bates thinks cricket is one of the worst sports for mental health

Former New Zealand skipper Suzie Bates recently talked about the toll cricket can take on the mental health of the cricketers. In this era of women's cricket, where the situation is changing with increased exposure, viewership, Bates shared that cricket is probably one of the worst sports for mental health.

Bates told to stuff.co.nz, "I think previously in women's cricket that wasn't such a major issue. You have your work life, or your university life, and then you went on tour for maybe three or four weeks then came back into that routine. Now there is your life with cricket and you are away. Also when you come back you are not necessarily coming back to work and study to get away from it, you are coming back to train again."

Bates has been playing in the international circuit for more than 12 years now. She used to have tours for nine months in a year, whether it could be with the national team or her club.

"Cricket has definitely brought a lot more challenges than it used to when I first started to play. You do, a little bit, just get used to it. Which perhaps isn't always healthy, but I know the first year I played in England I absolutely loved going over to the England summer and playing over there. It was a new environment, a fresh environment."

"I remember coming home and it was the start of our season and I was like, whoa, I feel like I am at the end of my season and I have got to start again. I remember the first year I really struggled with that. After the first year I learned that I had to be a lot better planned with my time off and actually block out times to completely get away from cricket," Bates told.

She further added, "Sometimes we will get girls who come into that environment at 24 and they have never been exposed to the professional environment because the women's programme isn't like that. So there is kind of a bit of a shock and there is some learning as you go, rather than being ready when you hit that environment."

Bates cited that cricket has become a lot more about the mental skills than the physical skills, especially sometimes because of poor individual performances which affect the team's fortunes. "You do learn to deal with it but there are some tough times especially when you or your team aren't going well. It is a lot harder to be away then, than when everything is rosie and you are winning."

Bates feels New Zealand cricket board has finally started to realise the importance of mental health and the process of managing that.

"There is a handful of their female players constantly playing around the world and they are starting to realise they need to manage that a bit better as well." Bates expressed.