Nicole Bolton has spoken to Fox Sports about her mental health struggles last summer.
Bolton was at the peak of her powers when she decided to take an indefinite break from the game during the Perth Scorchers Women’s Big Bash League.
The 30-year-old star batter revealed she might have retired if she had not stepped away when she did.
“Personally a few things happened to me away from cricket, which was a bit of a challenge in itself,” Bolton said in a sit-down interview for Fox Cricket. “There is still a lot of stigma around mental health, depression and anxiety. I don’t think I’d be sitting here talking to you if I didn’t take a break. I potentially would have retired to be honest. It was what people couldn’t see behind closed doors where I was really struggling. Physically, my body started to fail me in a sense. It was like alarm bells because I was like ‘this isn’t normal’.”
Bolton said NSW star Moises Henriques had been a huge support behind the scenes and her teammates had also been very supportive.
She said she was in a great place after rejoining the Australian camp.
“Over the past six months, I’ve finally found some balance and peace away from cricket and sometimes when you’re in the bubble playing cricket you think it defines you,” she said. “You get so caught up in the pressure and expectations and it can just grind away at you. Now I feel like I’ve got other things going on in my life that if cricket is not going well, well it’s okay. In time, I hope I can share my experience and maybe help someone else. It was an important time in my life and I’m glad I’ve been able to come through it.”