England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have hired the psychologist of Manchester City for their men's team ahead of the T20 World Cup that is to be played in the West Indies and the USA. The step has been taken by their white-ball head coach Matthew Mott who wants his players to remain emotionally vulnerable when they come under pressure.
David Young has worked with Manchester City especially during the period of massive success for them including their fourth successive Premier League title that they won recently. Meanwhile, ECB has taken City's approval to seek Young's services and he will be with the team on a short-term basis ahead of the mega event. Interestingly, Young was with England side from 2016 to 2020 as well when they won the ODI World Cup in 2019.
England's captain Jos Buttler had credited Young back then for performing in the final against New Zealand that went right down the wire. "He's previously been with the team and he's already been a great ally in messages back to me, making sure my messages are clear. It's always good to have someone who's a little bit removed from the squad to make sure you're landing your messages… He's still doing other roles but we've got him for this series, and the start of the World Cup as well," Mott said.
Mott recalled England's poor show in the ODI World Cup last year and is learning from the mistakes team made during the mega event in India. They entered the tournament as defending champions and were among the first teams to get knocked out with only three wins from nine matches. "When you've had the kick in the pants like we've had, you can't just go 'business as usual'. You have to redefine how you go as a team.
"As a group, we've made a commitment to be a bit more open in and around our training sessions, to help each other out a bit more. In India, all of us were guilty of being a bit insular, and trying to problem-solve ourselves. We've made a commitment to open up and be a bit more vulnerable as a group so that we're helping each other," Mott added.
