Shane Watson makes mental health top priority after becoming Australia Cricketers' Association president

The former Australia allrounder believes the sport must pay closer attention to anxiety issues which affect all levels

Shane Watson will make mental health his priority after taking over as president of the Australia Cricketers' Association.

Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson are both taking time away from the sport to deal with anxiety issues.

Ben Oliver, who oversees the Australia men's and women's teams, believes the sport has some catching up to do to manage such problems.

Watson was confirmed as the replacement for Greg Dyer, who remains as chairman, of the body on Monday.

And the allrounder, who played 59 Tests, 190 one-day internationals and 58 T20Is for Australia, will leave no stone unturned in an effort to battle one of the major issues surrounding elite sport.

Glenn Maxwell takes indefinite break from cricket due to mental health concerns

“There’s no question, this is a huge thing for me and something that the ACA and Cricket Australia need to work together to be able to support the players, as much as we have to, and try and limit the burden,” the 38-year-old said.

“It’s not just in cricket … it’s wider society: mental health is coming to the fore, as it should.

“Beforehand it was just shut behind closed doors, whereas now people are actually talking about it which is a great thing and it needs to happen.

“But the support needs to be there, to be able to limit the chances of one of our best players needing to have time away to be able to get back to where he or she needs to from a mental health point of view.

"When you’re playing non-stop and you don’t have breaks, and especially when you get to a certain age as well and you start thinking about what life is potentially going to look like when you finish playing, those are the times when the support needs to be there, even more so.”