Multiple cases of Under-19 cricketers reporting burnout, mental health challenges, and premature dropout across several nations in 2022-23 prompted the ICC and multiple cricket boards to review the increasing demands placed on teenage cricketers in the franchise cricket era.
The rapid commercialisation of cricket — including the emergence of U19 tournaments, franchise academies, and talent identification programs that operated at younger and younger ages — created an environment by 2022-23 where multiple Under-19 cricketers were reporting experiences of burnout, mental health challenges, and an exhaustion that led some to abandon professional cricket ambitions entirely.
Reports emerged from multiple nations — India, England, Australia, and the West Indies most prominently — of teenage cricketers who had been enrolled in intensive cricket academies, state or regional programs, and shadow national squads from as young as 14-15, only to find that by 17-18 they were physically and emotionally depleted.
The pressure on potential stars was particularly intense. A teenager identified as a future India or England first-class cricketer would, by the time of the 2023 U19 generation, have been playing structured cricket for eight to ten years with increasing intensity. The talent identification pipeline — which had delivered extraordinary early talent including Shafali Verma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi — also had a shadow side of young players who did not make it and who described the process as isolating and psychologically damaging.
The ICC's U19 Committee established a working group in 2023 to review age-group cricket's demands, particularly around the appropriate volume of structured cricket for under-16 and under-18 players. Several recommendations — including mandatory off-seasons, limits on year-round training programs, and enhanced mental health resources — were discussed.
The broader challenge was structural: the commercial value of identifying talent early had created financial incentives for academies and boards to intensify youth development beyond what was healthy for young people.
Multiple nations report increased U19 dropout rates — 2022-23
Former youth cricketers speak publicly about burnout and mental health
ICC U19 Committee establishes welfare working group
Boards announce reviews of academy intensity and year-round training
Recommendations on mandatory off-seasons and mental health resources discussed
“We are producing cricketers more efficiently than ever but we may be producing fewer people who love cricket. The two things are not the same.”
“By the time I was 17, I had been playing structured cricket with selection pressure for four years. I loved cricket when I started. By the time I was dropped, I was relieved.”
The ICC's welfare working group produced recommendations that were circulated to member boards in 2024. Implementation varied — some boards made significant changes to youth development philosophies; others changed little. The debate continued about whether cricket's talent identification model was compatible with young people's long-term wellbeing.
No formal incidents or bans. The ICC U19 Committee established a welfare working group. Several boards announced voluntary limits on youth training intensity. The issue was acknowledged as a growing concern requiring structural review.
The U19 burnout conversation of 2023 was part of a broader sport-wide reckoning about early professionalism and youth athlete welfare. Cricket's version was shaped by the specific pressures of the franchise cricket era, where the financial rewards for elite young players created intensified selection pressure at increasingly early ages.
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