File image of David Young© X (Twitter)
Defending champions England have roped in Premier League winners Manchester City’s psychologist David Young for the ICC T20 World Cup beginning in the Americas on June 2. Young, who was with England during their victorious 2019 World Cup campaign, has rejoined the side for the shortest format showpiece following England’s disastrous ODI World Cup campaign in India last year. Young had an impressive stint with the City, who recently won their fourth straight Premier League title. Young, who was with the England cricket team from 2016 to 2020, has rejoined the team on a short-term basis for the T20 World Cup, and is currently part of the support staff for the T20I series against Pakistan.
“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,” England white-ball coach Matthew Mott said.
“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 for the start of the World Cup as well.” England were knocked out at the group stage during the 50-over World Cup last year and Mott said they needed to be “more vulnerable” as a team to be able to help each other after paying the price for being a bit “insular” in India.
“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,” Mott said.
“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.” England will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Scotland on June 4 in Bridgetown, Barbados.
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