England turn to Manchester City psychologist to boost T20 World Cup defence
David Young, the sports psychologist credited with helping England turn around their 2019 World Cup campaign, has rejoined the side for next month’s T20 World Cup.
Young is also the full-time head of psychology at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and has returned to the England white-ball setup in recent months on a part-time basis.
Head coach Matthew Mott said Young has been working with the team remotely for three months, and is now on the ground for the series against Pakistan, the first match of which was washed out on Wednesday night. He will travel to the Caribbean for the early part of the World Cup campaign.
England players including captain Jos Buttler and pace bowler Mark Wood credited Young with helping to get their faltering tournament back on course after they won the 2019 one-day international World Cup.
During the tournament in India last year, England’s players had access to sports psychologists through online platforms. But the side did not have any psychologist on site, which the management later identified as an area that could be addressed for the T20 World Cup.
“In India all of us were guilty of being a bit insular and trying to problem solve ourselves,” said Mott. “We’ve made a commitment to open up and be a bit more vulnerable as a group so that we’re helping each other.
“We’re in a really good spot, had good conversations around that and when you’ve had the kick in the pants like we’ve had you just can’t go business as usual. You have to redefine how you go as a team and the really open and robust conversations we’ve had I think will hold us in good stead.
“We feel like it’s time to get the mojo back and go out and really express ourselves as a team.
“Having David back is really exciting. 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.”
Another notable change in the backroom staff is that England will have a coach with local knowledge, with Kieron Pollard recruited as a consultant for the tournament, as Telegraph Sport revealed.
In 2019, City recruited Young and helped the team to their first ever Champions League title last year, as well as the last four Premier League titles. He will resume his full-time role at Man City after the T20 World Cup.
Young has a close relationship with a number of senior England players. Six members of the squad for the T20 World Cup also appeared in 2019.
After England lost to Australia in 2019, leaving them needing to win four consecutive games to lift the World Cup, Young called Eoin Morgan, then England’s captain. They agreed that before playing India at Edgbaston, England’s squad would to discuss their emotions. England’s digital team prepared a short video that showed members of the squad talking positively about one another, between clips of players excelling.
Following Young’s meeting, England scored 337 for seven against India at Edgbaston to remain alive in the World Cup, which they went on to win in an unforgettable, controversial final at Lord’s a couple of weeks later.
Meanwhile, Mott said that he has not spoken to Morgan since last year’s World Cup, when the former captain was fiercely critical of the team’s management in his role as a pundit.
“No, I haven’t [spoken to Morgan],” he said. “He was [critical] but family and friends got more upset about it than I did. Morgs is there to give an opinion. Initially, of course you take it a bit personally but he’s there to have an opinion and his opinion is actually none of my business.
“If he feels strongly about something, that’s for him. All I’ll say is that only the people within the dressing room can fully understand what’s going on. Once you leave the dressing room, you might hear titbits of stuff but you don’t really know how the team’s operating. I always respect Morgs and respect his opinion. He’s quite entitled to it.”
Mott has, though, turned to one of Morgan’s most trusted advisors as he looks to turn England’s fortunes around.
