Brearley Backing England (7 Mar 1997)

7 March 1997

Brearley backing England

By Richard Bright

MIKE BREARLEY, the former England captain who practises as a psycho-analyst, is to help put the England squad in the best frame of mind for their Ashes challenge this summer.

One of Brearley`s tasks will be to help deal with players` personal problems that they may feel unable to discuss with the team management.

"He isn`t being hired officially by us but he`s always happy for us to call on him," an England Cricket Board spokeswoman said yesterday.

Also planned are two seminars for the management and players, designed to improve their public relations skills when touring.

The England team arrived at Heathrow yesterday after a 28-hour flight from Wellington via Auckland and Los Angeles.

Captain Mike Atherton said: "It should be a cracking summer, with Australia being the top side coming over here. All the Test matches are sold out virtually, which is great news.

"We`ve got a good set of guys. There were very few problem areas on this tour and I felt that a lot of the players have enhanced their careers during the trip. We should start in the summer with players who have played in back-to-back winning Test matches."

Atherton had no complaints about the length of the tour which took England to Zimbabwe and New Zealand, having set off in November. "It has been a long tour and three-and-a-half months is a long time away from home. But that`s the nature of tour itineraries these days."

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)