Amy Jones: Replacing Sarah Taylor, cricket's relationship with mental health and a career-defining six months

The England wicket-keeper faces a key period in her career with the Women's Big Bash followed by the World T20. But NICK HOWSON discovers she has just the temperament to deal with the pressure

Phil Collins. Bob Paisley. Jodie Whittaker. There is nothing like the pressure to succeed and replace. Living up to your predecessor creates a complex array of emotions: doubt, fear, excitement, apprehension and perhaps above all, anticipation. Quite the cocktail.

If Amy Jones can approach that illustrious list then she will have done a stellar job in solving one of English cricket's most awkward conundrums. With wicket-keeper-batter Sarah Taylor having retired from cricket, the 26-year-old is the heir-apparent to the mainstay of the women's team for the last 13 years. In modern-day terms, only James Anderson can rival Taylor for longevity and class.

“If you had asked me that three years I would probably have said yes,” Jones told The Cricketer when asked whether replacing Taylor was a daunting prospect. “I wouldn't say there was anything scary about it something that I haven't already been through. 

“It is a really exciting opportunity and I am really looking forward to knowing where I stand and hopefully I can really make the most of that. In terms of having the gloves on a permanent basis, it is really exciting and is the next level for me and a step up and having bigger role.

“I have done it over the last few years on and off in the T20 and I absolutely loved it and it was great having that responsibility. I can't wait really. I'm lucky enough to have been able to watch Sarah who has been the best in the world for so long and learn from her. Hopefully, I can take over and do a good job.”

WOMEN'S BIG BASH FIXTURES

Having kept wicket in 42 of her 80 England outings across all formats, it would be disingenuous to suggest Jones is anything other than well-equipped to take on the responsibility of filling Taylor's shoes. And having been promoted to opener across all formats there is tremendous faith in her ability to mirror the performances of a batter with nearly 7,000 international runs.

Perhaps what makes Jones' promotion slightly uncomfortable is the circumstances around it (“It is not the way you want to become first pick”). She is certainly talented enough to justify selection, but Taylor's leave from international cricket due to mental health problems is an unfortunate end to a brilliant career.

Despite Harold Gimblett's untimely death in 1978, the focus on the sport's relationship with anxiety has only become a burning issue over the last decade. Major progress has been made since Geoffrey Boycott's unhelpful comments regarding Michael Yardy in 2011, partly thanks to Marcus Trescothick's tribulations five years earlier and his subsequent book documenting his problems.

The conversation around mental health is now a constant one, with Jonathan Trott, Andrew Flintoff and Ryan Sidebottom among those to come forward to speak openly about their own struggles. Taylor has picked up the baton over the last three years, taking multiple breaks from the sport before deciding to call time on her career in July.

Jones has developed ways of staving off such issues, helped by former England coach Mark Robinson. Central to her strategy is to accept that not being at your best on every single day is part and parcel of life as an elite sportsperson. 

^{Sarah Taylor's retirement follows a stellar 13-year England career}

“Elite sport is tough and the nature of doing something like this means you should always be happy, you should always be grateful and you should always enjoy every minute - but life isn't like that,” she explained. “We definitely don't take it for granted but it is brutal. You go out there and you don't know if you're going to succeed or fail. There are thousands of other jobs that have similar consequences.

“Mark Robinson said to us a lot that there are going to be days when you don't enjoy it. And it is ok not to enjoy it. You're not going to wake up desperate to go to training every day. If you acknowledge that then you don't feel bad if you have a bad day and then it is fine. 

“A big thing for me is it is so great being part of a team. We're such a close team, we do most things together outside of cricket. As a squad, we know each other really well and just immersing yourself in that, especially when you're on tour, is important.

“When you're together if you're really committed to the team it gives you so many other things to enjoy. If someone else does well you feel great and it just makes it easier if you're not doing well to enjoy everyone else's success.”

For now, those international pressures can wait. A second campaign in the Women's Big Bash League with Perth Scorchers will be Jones' main focus until at least the start of December. The spell comes at a clutch moment. Just a few months out from the start of the World T20 Down Under in February, it will act as perfect preparation. 

Additionally, after England were overwhelmed during the Ashes series it is a timely opportunity for the seven of the players from that series - Fran Wilson, Tammy Beaumont, Danni Wyatt, Nat Sciver, Heather Knight, and Laura Winfield will join Jones for the fifth edition Big Bash - to exorcise some demons.

Further exposure to Australia's premier competition comes just weeks after the ECB unveiled its strategy to bridge the gap to their Ashes rivals. Among the key aspects is increasing the number of full-time players by 40, alongside the 21 centrally contracted stars. Australia have over 100 professional or semi-pro players in their ranks.

“In Australia, they brought so many professional players through and they have so many more players performing and playing like a professional cricketer,” added Jones. “It definitely shows.

^{Amy Jones returns to Perth Scorchers for her second Big Bash campaign}

“There are two more teams (in the Big Bash in comparison to the now-defunct Kia Super League) and the standard is really high. Hopefully with all the structural changes that is exactly what we will have in England. Give it a few years and we'll really see the standard improve.”

Having long played catch-up in terms of spectator numbers, this Australia summer should be a landmark moment off the field. The Big Bash will be played separately from the men's competition, albeit during when the international schedule resumes. The World T20 Final will take place on International Women's Day at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground. The record attendance for a women's sporting fixture, currently at 90,185, is in jeopardy.

It, of course, remains to be seen whether Jones will be in the middle for that record-breaking tilt. She stands at the top of a long road which could yet end in more World Cup glory. Either way, it is unlikely you'll see her Throwing It All Away.