Cricket Albury-Wodonga star Jack Craig has revealed he is taking a step back with his cricket as he battles mental health issues.
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The former Cricketer of the Year has just joined Williamstown in the Victorian Sub-District competition.
Craig joined Victorian Premier club Melbourne for the 2020-21 season, but left towards the end of his second year to rejoin home club Wodonga last January.
"I wasn't going to play at all after leaving Melbourne, I was going to have a break for mental health reasons, but as it turned out I just wanted to have some fun with my mates in Wodonga," he revealed.
When he signed with Wodonga for the finish of the 2021-22 season, Craig spoke honestly and at length with The Border Mail about the pressure of Premier cricket and his crippling self-doubt.
It will surprise many in CAW as the 27-year-old always had a confident approach.
"I definitely had it (confidence) when I first got to Melbourne, somewhere in that first season I lost it and I can't put my finger on why," he admitted.
"I used to be a very confident person, confident in my game, what I could do, I'd like to think that showed in the way I played, always taking the game on."
Like so many talented players looking to burst their way into the next level, Craig had virtually devoted his life to cricket.
"Absolutely, it's all I've sort of done, but it wasn't until last year that I realised that," he explained.
"I was a little burnt out and started not to enjoy it, it became a bit of a chore, it was too much for me."
Craig has also been a regular Victorian representative at the Indoor Cricket National Championships, but he's also elected to take a complete break from all forms until October.
He's also jumped back into footy, joining his girlfriend Ella Taig, who's also playing.
"I'm playing for Point Cook in the Western Region Football League division one, I'm in the forward line and loving it, absolutely loving it," he offered.
"I've always been around footy (father Bob played 223 games for Wodonga and is an Ovens and Murray Football League Hall of Famer), but I've never taken it to that next step because of cricket, I've never really given it a red-hot crack.
"I played a few games in the reserves at Wodonga about five years ago and before that I hadn't played since the under 16s."
Craig says he's working hard on improving his mental health.
"It's a work in progress, it's something you've got to work on, it's like physical fitness, you've got to work on it to get better, like everything else," he said.
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"I'm happy to talk about it because I'm not the only one who goes through it, talking about it is the first step in the right direction."
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