After the experience of Marcus Trescothick in recent years brought the shadow of depression amongst sports stars on to the radar, it should be no surprise when another prominent cricketer falls victim to mental illness. The old 'pull yourself together, lad' sentiments are insensitive, to say the least, and offensive to the millions of people in the UK who suffer from depression to some degree or other.
When Mike Yardy came home early from the World Cup, Geoff Boycott was mischievously partially-quoted in a way that put the outspoken commentator in a very bad light. I read his week that he apologised for his comments but remarked that in his day such illnesses were not widely known about. Actually, I think they were, but were attributable to being 'down' or 'in a strop'. Indeed, one of Boycott's Yorkshire team-mates in the 1970s and 1980s, David Bairstow, suffered from depression and ended his own life thirteen years aged only 46. I don't know whether this manifested itself during his playing days. It is believed that alcohol, poor health and financial problems were contributory factors to his suicide, so it is possible that he hid his troubles behind a boozy sociable facade. However, if even rumbustuous Tykes can succumb, it could happen to anyone.
Yardy has become a useful fringe player in the England one-day set-up, getting his chance after some useful Twenty20 performances for Sussex opening the batting and contributing some very economical spin bowling, too. He may have an ungainly style but to have an economy rate of only 6.40 in 80-odd matches is world-class. His performances for England have been moderate at best, with both bat and ball, but he remains an excellent county performer for Sussex. His first-class average is just shy of 40, with a career-best innings of 257, but he rarely turns his arm over in four-day cricket. With Panesar and Rayner in the side, he doesn't really need to.
I was glad to see him return to the fray earlier this season, but sadly without finding any kind of form. Almost certainly the illness was restricting him and so he and his county have rightly recognised the need for Mike to take another break. With Trescothick, it is the prospect of touring abroad that tears him apart but with Yardy it seems to be a bigger issue. As the Somerset skipper wrote in his excellent autobiography "Coming Back to Me", the most important things are admitting the illness and receiving the support you need. If a player endures physical trauma - breaking a leg or contracting cancer - he would get universal sympathy, so why not someone suffering a mental condition?
I don't know how soon, if ever, Mike Yardy feels ready to take to the cricket field again, but he should be allowed the time necessary, by those close to him, the Sussex and England set-ups and the media. Good luck to him.
