Alex Wakely admits mental strain led to decision to give up Northants captaincy

Wakely stepped down after over four years as club captain, during which time he led the side to two Twenty20 Finals and came within five points of Specsavers County Championship promotion in 2017

Alex Wakely has said his mental health was behind the decision to resign the Northamptonshire captaincy. 

Wakely stepped down after over four years as club captain, during which time he led the side to two Twenty20 Finals - winning the competition for a second time in 2016 - and came within five points of Specsavers County Championship promotion in 2017.

His earlier stint as Twenty20 captain in 2013 brought the club’s first trophy since 1992. 

But the pressure of a poor 2018 where the club failed to challenge in all three formats - and a disappointing start to this season began to take their toll.

“I started to take things home with me, my personality had changed a bit and I knew it was time to step aside,” Wakely said.

“I couldn’t do the job to the best of my ability. I wasn’t enjoying turning up and maybe that had an effect on the team.

“I always managed to separate the job and my personal life. I could drive 45 minutes home and park everything. But I started taking things into the house, I wasn’t sleeping well, I was acting differently and gradually over time you start to think ‘hang on, something isn’t right’.”

^{Wakely led Northants to T20 glory in 2016.}

Following the fairytale Twenty20 triumph in 2013, Wakely missed the entirety of the 2014 campaign through injury - it proved a disastrous season for the county, who were relegated from Division One of the County Championship without winning a match.

Back fit for 2015, Wakely took on the responsibility to rebuild the club with a much-changed, younger squad and had become the longest-serving captain in the country, in total leading Northants in 198 matches across all formats.

“It’s a privilege to captain the club,” Wakely said. “It’s something I’ve really loved. It’s come with certain pressures and when things are tough it’s really hard but we’ve had the opportunity to win trophies and that’s what you play for.

“But, as any leader, you have a shelf-life. I’d been toying with it for a couple of months really. I’m Northamptonshire through and through and it’s really difficult to give up the reins but part of me thinks it’s the best think for the club and for me. 

“Yes, the performances have been poor of late. I still would have loved to have been able to turn that around but it’s the right time to stand down. Now there’s a huge weight off my shoulders and I do feel refreshed. It’s a fantastic dressing room that hopefully I can now be a part of for the future.”

Report courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network

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