Thunder spinner Alex Hartley takes indefinite break from cricket

Speaking on No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, the 2017 World Cup winner said she had lost her love of cricket and has been "struggling mentally"

Thunder spinner Alex Hartley is stepping away from cricket for the "foreseeable future" in order to focus on her mental health.

Speaking on No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, which she hosts with Thunder teammate Kate Cross, the 2017 World Cup winner said she had lost her love of cricket, admitting the best feeling on match days has been "at the end of the day when I can take [her cricket shirt] off again".

Hartley has put "no timeline" on her reaction but has not retired yet, instead hoping to reignite her passion for the game with some time away.

"I have decided to step away from cricket for the foreseeable future," Hartley said in an episode released on May 26. "I've been struggling mentally [for a while] and I have felt like a different person, I have felt flat and I've not felt like that bubbly character that I normally am and that person that is excited to go to cricket.

^{Hartley won the World Cup with England in 2017 [Nathan Stirk/Getty Images]}

"Every time I've pulled on my cricket shirt, the best feeling has been at the end of the day when I can take it off again, and I want to get back to that person that fell in love with cricket [and] is playing cricket because she enjoys it.

"At the minute I've got no confidence. That person that stands at the end of the mark and believes she's the best in the world, right now I'm standing at the end of my mark going, 'Anything could happen here'.

"I want to be able to just watch and try and find the love for the game again. It might be for a month, it might be forever. I'm not putting a timeline on it.

Stepping away from cricket has been the hardest decision I’ve ever made.

Doing it for this little girl who fell in love with the game ❤️

Doesn’t mean it’s over, I have absolutely no doubt I’ll be back stronger than ever.

Thank you for all the messages, they mean the world 🫶🏼 pic.twitter.com/6Zr8aO5h7t

— Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93) May 27, 2023

"I would have stepped away a few weeks ago, but I didn't want to make the decision overnight. The reason I haven't retired is because I genuinely feel I could get that love back for the game, and I could get back to that person who plays and really enjoys it. I've giving myself the opportunity to get back there.

"If I retire now, I'd probably regret it further down the line."

Hartley, who made her international debut in June 2016, earned 28 ODI caps and four T20I caps for England, taking 42 wickets.

A member of Thunder's squad since the regional restructuring in 2020, she has 20 appearances in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, taking 33 wickets, as well as picking up eight wickets in 13 Charlotte Edwards Cup outings.

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