Nic Maddinson withdraws from Australia A squad due to mental health problems

Opening batsman Nic Maddinson on Saturday withdrew himself from Australia A squad on the grounds of mental health.

As a result of this decision, the batsman would not be taking part in the scheduled match against Pakistan.

Cameron Bancroft will replace the opener in Australia A's XI for the three-day day/night match against Pakistan.

"The wellbeing of our players is always our primary concern. We are proud that our players are comfortable to speak honestly and openly about how they are feeling. We will provide Nic with all the support and care we can and wish him a full and speedy recovery. We also ask that Nic's privacy be respected at this time," Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia's (CA) EGM of National Teams said in an official statement.

 

In October this year, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell also decided to take a break from cricket to look after his mental health.

As a result, he was replaced by D'Arcy Short in the Australia squad for the series against Sri Lanka.

"Mental health is a challenge faced by Australian communities and elite sporting organizations and cricket is no different," Kountouris said. "Like other professional sports we are working very hard to better understand the challenges faced by our players and staff so we can support them," Alex Kountouris, CA's Sports Science and Sports Medicine Manager said.

"We are all proud to work in an industry where players can feel safe to talk about these issues. It goes without saying that we offer all our players the support they need in the difficult times but importantly we are working on education, resourcing and research to better understand how we do this," he added.

Australia A XI for the three-day match against Pakistan: Alex Carey (c), Marcus Harris, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja (vc), Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Sean Abbott, Riley Meredith.Australia is slated to play two Tests against Pakistan beginning at Brisbane on November 21 and it will be followed by a day-night Test at Adelaide on November 29.