Gloucestershire's Gareth Roderick looking to make up for lost time

The 27-year-old Gloucestershire batsman and wicketkeeper celebrated the second List A century of his career against Kent in the Royal London One-Day Cup at Bristol on Tuesday, having scored 74 and 38 in the previous two group matches

Gareth Roderick is a cricketer out to make up for lost time this season thanks to help from the Professional Cricketers’ Trust.

The 27-year-old Gloucestershire batsman and wicketkeeper celebrated the second List A century of his career against Kent in the Royal London One-Day Cup at Bristol on Tuesday, having scored 74 and 38 in the previous two group matches.

Roderick began the Specsavers County Championship season by hitting 98 against Derbyshire and all indications point to him having overcome the acute depression he suffered from dating back to 2017.

Last October the South African placed an incredibly open and honest statement on Gloucestershire’s club website detailing the reaction he suffered to his father taking his own life a year earlier.

He wrote of “being on the receiving end of my own dark thoughts” before going on to detail how the Professional Cricketers’ Association and Trust had come to his rescue, describing the support he received as “amazing”.

On hitting his unbeaten century against Kent, Roderick raised both arms in the air, clearly indicating what it meant to him.

^{Roderick in action against Surrey}

After the game he again spoke about the difficult times he had been through.

“Things happen in life which put other matters into perspective,” he said.

“After a tough last 18 months or two years I have put new routines in place and feel things are settling down for me.

“The winter leading into 2018 was the low point. I lost the hunger to get up and play or train, which was something I had never struggled with before.

“That reflected in my performances on the pitch the following summer. I didn’t do well, so I decided to go home to South Africa and forget about cricket for a while.

“I soaked up some sun and put on too much weight! My team-mates weren’t too happy with that, but I came back for pre-season this year refreshed and with my desire to play restored.

POST MATCH REACTION: Centurion Gareth Roderick reflects on Tuesday's @OneDayCup win by @Gloscricket over @KentCricket pic.twitter.com/nIXWLzwkHO

— Gloucestershire Cricket🏏 (@Gloscricket) April 24, 2019

“The Trust did so much to help me, as they are doing for so many other players. My attitude now is that if I am going to continue playing cricket I am going to give it a proper go.

“I don’t like to make excuses and hold my hand up over not performing well enough for Gloucestershire over the past two years. Now I am looking to put that right.”

Roderick’s story should be an inspiration to other professional cricketers experiencing mental health issues.

He was appointed Gloucestershire captain in 2016, having long been viewed as one of their brightest batting prospects, but last summer averaged only 23.8 in 12 Championship appearances.

Roderick will be looking to continue his impressive start to the season when Gloucestershire visit champions Hampshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup on Thursday before taking on arch-rivals Somerset at Bristol on Sunday.

Feature by Richard Latham courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network