Nic Maddinson pulls out of tour game against Pakistan for mental health reasons

Australia batsman Nic Maddinson, on Friday, followed his compatriot Glenn Maxwell by taking a break from cricket due to mental health concerns. Towards the end of last month, Maxwell had sensationally pulled out of Australia’s T2oI series against Sri Lanka citing the same reasons. And Maddinson is also facing the same issues.

Consequently, the Victoria star has withdrawn from Australia A clash against Pakistan in Perth. The game would have paved the way for Maddinson’s comeback into the Test side. Maddinson, who made his Test debut in 2016, has not played a Test since the Boxing Day game against Pakistan in 2016. He was dropped from the Test side after just three Tests as he failed to impress.

However, the left-handed batsman was in brilliant form in the domestic circuit for Victoria. In eight games for Victoria over the past two seasons, he has amassed 952 runs at an impressive average of nearly 80. During this phase, he has slammed four hundreds including a career-best 224 earlier this month. Maddinson now looks set to wait a bit longer for a recall from the Test team.

Not the first time for Nic Maddinson

This is not the first time Nic Maddinson has taken a break from the game due to mental health issues. He had previously done it in 2017 soon after being dropped from the Test side. He had stepped away from Sheffield Shield cricket with his then-state the NSW Blues. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has made it clear that the batsman will receive full support from the board.

Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager of National Teams, said Maddinson would get all the time and care from the board in his quest to recover. He also said that the batsman’s privacy should be respected.

“The well-being of our players is always our primary concern,” Oliver was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. “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.”

Meanwhile, opening batsman Cameron Bancroft has replaced Maddinson in Australia A team for the upcoming game. However, Bancroft is unlikely to get a chance in the top-order since the team already features a number of options. Thus, he is likely to bat in the middle-order and will be looking to regain his form after a poor Ashes.

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