Exploring professional cricketers’ well-being: Insights and influences

Athlete mental health research has focused mostly on mental health difficulties and associated maladaptive behaviors rather than on well-being. In this study, our aim was to better understand what well-being represents for professional cricketers and to identify perceived barriers and facilitators of well-being to inform future practice. Grounded in a constructivist epistemology and a realism ontology, twenty-seven professional cricketers participated in one of eight focus groups. Underpinned by an interpretive description approach and based on a reflexive thematic analysis of the data, <i>balance</i> and <i>energy</i> were identified as core elements of cricketer well-being, whilst <i>relationships</i> were identified as a core influencer of well-being. Additionally, cricketers' well-being had a temporal component; during the playing season, it was linked to individual performance, whilst during the off-season, well-being stabilized at a level dependent on person-specific factors. These findings offer valuable insights into critical times when cricketers’ well-being may require support, and how this can be achieved. The identification of balance and energy as the means by which cricketers understand well-being also provides a foundation for bespoke interventions that utilize familiar language. Furthermore, establishing relationships as an influential factor highlights a tangible component that those working in professional cricket environments can consider to enhance overall well-being. Cricketers understand well-being as balance, energy, and relationships. Their well-being fluctuates with form during the season and then stabilizes during the off-season. When supporting cricketers, it is important to acknowledge the <i>cricketer</i> within the <i>person</i> and to be aware of the common barriers to well-being that they often cannot avoid. Cricketers understand their well-being through balance and energy.How balance and energy are achieved, as well as the well-being influences experienced, is in part determined by the time point within the cricket calendar.Relationships underpin the extent to which barriers to well-being influence well-being. Cricketers understand their well-being through balance and energy. How balance and energy are achieved, as well as the well-being influences experienced, is in part determined by the time point within the cricket calendar. Relationships underpin the extent to which barriers to well-being influence well-being.