Abstract
Introduction
For optimum performance, cricket requires high cognitive function. There have been studies that reported how some emotional responses, such as anxiety, can improve performance. Achieving success in cricket requires a wide range of physical, technical and mental skills. Athletes have long been respected for their mental toughness, and they are frequently praised for their ability to persist at succeeding despite numerous challenges. In comparison to the general community, athletes who suffer from a mental illness may be subject to an additional layer of stigma. While epidemiological studies of cricket players tend to be ambiguous, there are no published studies of the mental health profiling and long-term impact of mental health disorders.
Aims
This research study aimed to determine the relationship between selected mental health and performance parameters among semi-professional male cricket players.
Methods
This research study was a cross-sectional study design. The study population was semi-professional cricket players residing in Cape Town, South Africa. The sampling method used in the study was purposive sampling. The sample size was n = 90 for the mental health questionnaire and n = 63 for performance testing. Two methods of data collection were used: 1) a mental health questionnaire and 2) performance testing. The mental health segment includes Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 (DASS-21), Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The ABQ has sub-scales which are physical and emotional exhaustion (PEE), devaluation of sport practice (DSP) and reduced sense of achievement (RSA). The performance segment includes anthropometry (%BF), flexibility (ROM), upper-body strength (push-ups) and endurance (abdominal test), coordination (crazy catch test), agility (T-test), speed and acceleration (40-m sprint), as well as aerobic capacity (Cooper’s test). Data analysis entailed the compilation of descriptive statistics. Means and standard deviations were calculated. An ANOVA was utilised to ascertain whether there were statistically significant differences in mental capabilities, physical performance and specialised positions. Bivariate analyses were conducted on both mental health variables and performance measures. Non-parametric and parametric tests, as well as Pearson's and Spearman's correlation
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coefficients, were used to determine statistically significant relationships between morphological, physical performance, and mental health profile factors. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, IBM Version 27.0) for Windows was used to analyse the collected data. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.
Results
Results reported that mental health profiles were positively related to performance metrics, however, it weak and significant. Furthermore, some of the findings were found to have weak to moderate positive and negative relation. The cricket players’ ages ranged from 18 to 35 years for the mental health questionnaire (n = 90; 24.18 ± 5.01) and performance metrics (n = 63; 24.98 ± 5.12), respectively. The selected performance-based tests (n = 63) had the following demographical and morphological results: weight (77.67 ± 11), height (176.30 ± 5.58), BMI (24.99 ± 3.35) and BF% (10.87 ± 3.30). The results of the study reported that mental health symptoms are inter-related, as one occurs the predisposition of the other becomes evident. In terms of selected performance tests only VO2max and abdominal test were significant. The other performance metrics did not yield any significance. The relationship between anxiety and 40-metre sprint had a weak significance, however, it suggests that pre-competition anxiety might be needed for enhance performance. Satisfaction of life was statistically significant in relation to performance-based tests: SWLS and abdominal test (r = 0.355; p = 0.004), crazy catch test (r = 0.249; p = 0.049), Cooper’s test (r = 0.335; p = 0.009) and VO2max (r = 0.308; p = 0.14), SWLS and BMI (r = -0.263; p = 0.037). Some of these players were neither satisfied nor unsatisfied with their quality of life due to the effects of COVID-19.
Conclusion
The current study provides a snapshot of how mental health profiles and several measures of performance influence each other. However, understanding the phenomenon would require more extensive research. Mitigating symptoms of burnout, mental health instability and life dissatisfaction would increase cricketers playing years. Since there is minimal evidence on the mental health effects among amateur and professional cricketers' performance, future studies should investigate mental health disorders across various skill levels of cricket.
Key words: mental health, physical health, performance, semi-professional, cricket