Kyle Jamieson’s the man of the moment in cricket.
The 25-year-old has been a PR dream for the Black Caps since all 2.03 metres of him (6’8” in old terms) burst into the team at Christmas.
But when he told Radio Sport in an interview he was ‘fine thanks’, that wasn’t the whole story.
Auckland pace bowler Kyle Jamieson Photo: Photosport
His casual acknowledgement at a post-match press conference that he had anger issues really took the sporting media pack aback. He surprised himself too, saying the interview had taken a turn where he didn’t know it was going to go.
At issue was his move from Canterbury to Auckland, a move that he made to get out of a bad space. There was a rough breakup, as well as poor relationships with his team.
He admitted he’d been at a place with his cricket that he wasn’t really enjoying the sport – and wasn’t liking the person that he’d become on the field sometimes either.
He found himself in a negative, he says sometimes ‘toxic’ environment, where he was bottling things up for days, sometimes weeks. His emotions found an outlet on the cricket field, and he says his anger was coming out in his behaviour – fiery and aggressive. He didn’t like what he was seeing in himself.
“I’ve always probably played the game in a passionate way,” he tells Sharon Brettkelly in today’s podcast. But whereas a fist pump after a wicket was a positive thing, sometimes his celebrations would go a fraction too far, or he’d push his emotions aside until the people closest to him took the brunt of it.
That led to his move to Auckland.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
He wasn’t afraid to seek help and talk his problems out, and has been working through the thoughts and feelings he had during that period.
Sports psychologist David Galbraith understands the issues Jamieson’s been going through – he’s worked with many of the country’s top teams including the All Black Sevens, NZ Golf, NZ Women’s Football and many Olympians.
“It’s intense, it’s immediate, it’s unending,” he says. “So for example if it’s rugby every training, every game that they do is filmed by at least three or four cameras and a drone, so every detail of their job is videoed. It’s clipped, it’s played back, it’s critiqued. They sit down and talk to somebody about how well they were doing or how well they weren’t doing. So if you consider that context as a day to day employment environment that’s really rare.”
Galbraith says the general population doesn’t have that degree of scrutiny, or expectation of performance. The pressure is very real. and it's being driven into the lower grades – with school players moving through the system earlier and earlier.
He talks to Sharon Brettkelly today about how this intense pressure is having an effect on players’ mental health.
Where to get help:
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Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202
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Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email talk@youthline.co.nz
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