England recruit Manchester City psychologist for T20 World Cup

England have acquired the services of Manchester City’s psychologist David Young for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, starting from June 1.

Young works as head of psychology with Manchester City, who recently won their fourth consecutive Premier League title.

He previously worked with England’s cricket team from 2016 to 2020 and was instrumental in turning things around for the team that went on to win the ODI World Cup in 2019.

White-ball head coach of England Matthew Mott revealed that he was hired as a consultant for the mega-event to help the team in their T20 World Cup title defence.

“He’s previously been with the team and he’s already been a great ally in messages back to me, making sure my messages are clear,” Mott said.

“It’s always good to have someone who’s a little bit removed from the squad to make sure you’re landing your messages… He’s still doing other roles but we’ve got him for this series, and the start of the World Cup as well.”

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Young joined the team ahead of the ongoing T20I series against Pakistan and will travel with the team to the Caribbean for the early part of the World Cup.

England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler and fast bowler Mark Wood have previously credited Young for helping them during the 2019 World Cup.

However, the English side failed to defend the title in World Cup 2023, as they were knocked out of the competition in the group stage.

“In India, all of us were guilty of being a bit insular and trying to problem solve ourselves,” said Mott. “We’ve made a commitment to open up and be a bit more vulnerable as a group so that we’re helping each other.”

Young was brought back in order to avoid the same fate during their T20 World Cup defence.

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