Former Test cricketer Matt Renshaw opens up on mental health struggle and his coronavirus proposal

He was a record-breaking Test star who was earmarked for greatness before it came crashing down. Cricketer Matt Renshaw opens up on his fall from the top and why love will help him rise again.

They haven’t done this in a long time. Queensland cricketer Matthew Renshaw, 24, and his long-time girlfriend, Josie Harvey, 24, are having a picnic together in the back yard of their Wavell Heights home in Brisbane’s northern suburbs.

It’s Good Friday and they’re cosied up, nibbling on their favourite snacks, taking it all in – the freshness of the air, the warmth of the sun, the beauty of their garden and stillness in their lives.

Nowhere to be and nothing more important to do other than be with each other.

It was the perfect moment for the Brisbane Heat batsman to propose, as he pulled out a ring from his pocket and asked the woman he can’t live without to be his wife.

Amid a time when an unforgiving virus is spreading throughout the world, taking away job security, financial stability, opportunities and lives, it has never been clearer to Renshaw what matters most.

And right now, it’s their health and each other.

Matt Renshaw and partner Josie Harvey with their dog, Chester open up on their recent engagement. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

It’s the clarity he has needed for some time after suffering a pronounced fall from grace in his cricket career over the past two years.

He appeared to have the world at his feet, scoring his first Test hundred for Australia at just 20, and was widely regarded as a big part of the long-term future for Australian cricket.

But just as fast as he arrived and thrived in the international arena, he came crashing down and, in February, was dropped from the Queensland Sheffield Shield team.

His mind, he admits, has been his worst enemy as the dark cloud of self-doubt, pressure and scrutiny grew so big, it crushed his rising career. But no matter how hard he’s fallen, says Renshaw, Harvey has been the one lifting him back up.

“Josie is amazing,” Renshaw says.

“She’s always kept me grounded … getting time away from cricket with her is special and a lot of what she does is distract me from the stress.

“It’s nice to have someone like her around, someone who is as caring and loving as her.”

A proposal in a pandemic wasn’t entirely the plan for he had it all mapped out to unfold while on a holiday through America – until the advent of the COVID-19 crisis. It was a break he had hoped would take his mind off a difficult summer of cricket after he had found out he would be axed from the Queensland side.

“It was just after the Big Bash series and I found out I was probably going to be dropped,” he recalls.

“You have the really high wave of Big Bash and then find out you’re going to be dropped and that’s when you sort of feel like, ‘Why do you do this?’

“I always knew it was going to be coming but sort of hoped to be given a lifeline … but I probably didn’t deserve to be in the team at this stage, if you look at my numbers.”

To understand the gravity of his decline is to understand how far and how quickly he climbed as a very young player.

Former Test batsman Matt Renshaw celebrates scoring his century against Pakistan during a cricket Test match in 2017. Picture: AFP PHOTO/William West

Renshaw made his first-class debut with Queensland against South Australia in 2015 when he was almost 19. He experienced a meteoric rise and just over a year later was picked for the Australian Test team. Critics labelled him the future star of Australian cricket.

He’d secured himself a spot alongside David Warner as opening batsman with fans of the game pinning high hopes on the new duo. And he delivered. A string of disciplined and assured performances at the top of the order resulted in being labelled by critics as a player who could be depended on in that challenging role for a generation.

Then, in just his fourth Test match, he struck a chanceless 184 against Pakistan in Sydney, a performance that also landed him a spot in the history books.

Renshaw became the youngest Australian player to ever reach such a score in Test cricket.

But less than 12 months later, after a string of disappointing performances for Queensland, he was a shock omission from the Australian squad on the cusp of the 2017 home Ashes series – a devastating blow.

Renshaw tells U on Sunday it was the start of what would become a long mental battle.

“I was constantly on my phone reading articles,” he says.

“You’re feeling like you’re struggling and then you read an article which says you’re struggling and everything compounds and (you start to think), I don’t think I can score runs at all.

“I’ve definitely learned from that, trying not to get too caught up in that sort of thing.”

The next few years were a journey of highs and lows for the cricketer.

He was briefly recalled to the Australian side in 2018 for the Johannesburg Test after David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned following the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town.

But he was unlucky to be jettisoned once again the next time the team assembled for a Test match seven months later.

The English-born athlete had dreamt of becoming a cricketer ever since he fell in love with the game as a young boy. He’d play with his dad in the back yard of their home in Middlesbrough, England, and wander down to the nets to practise.

Soon enough, cricket became his life.

Former Australian Test batsman Matt Renshaw celebrates his maiden test century. Picture: Brett Costello

The family moved to Australia when Renshaw was 11, via a stint in New Zealand, and they settled in Brisbane. His game only became stronger and he was fast-tracked to the top.

It was where he had always dreamt of being but he wasn’t prepared for the pressure that came with it. Professional sport can be a dangerous place for overthinkers, such as Renshaw, who admits he found himself constantly exhausted by his own thoughts.

What could he be doing better, where did he go wrong, why was he letting the team down?

Eventually, the mind games won and it took
a toll on his game.

“You fail, then you fail a couple of times in a row, and you think, ‘I need to score runs now’, and then you fail again and that’s when you try too hard,” he says.

“I learned when I was trying too hard, I was struggling because I wanted it so much and it didn’t work out for me.”

Along the way, he’s asked himself the question of whether it was too much, too soon.

“It probably was,” he says softly.

“You look back on it now and think ‘was it too much pressure?’”

The uneasy feelings started bubbling closer to the surface with every failure, until everything snowballed early this year.

“You put that much pressure on yourself because you want to succeed and be able to do well every time. (When) you keep putting so much pressure on yourself, eventually you explode and I think that was the case with me.’’

Earlier this year he made the decision to take a short break from cricket.

“Everything sort of hit just after Big Bash, I was mentally exhausted,” he said.

“I’d been on the move so much … I needed a break from everything and they (Queensland Cricket) handled it well and they said, ‘Your mental health is the most important thing’.

“Sometimes it’s more (about) taking a step back and seeing how mentally strong you are.”

During the break, Renshaw says he’s been working with psychologists, tending to his garden, playing golf and spending time with his new fiancee.

Former Test batsman Matt Renshaw and partner Josie Harvey celebrate their recent engagement. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

“Josie is so great for me and helps me get away from everything,” he says.

“There have been times where you get caught up and look at your phone and read news articles, but having her there grounds me and she’ll tell me if I’m getting too up or too down and rein it back in.”

The pair met four years ago through mutual friends and Harvey, who works in administration, admits that before they started dating, she had never watched a cricket match. But ever since, she’s been there supporting him through it all.

“Obviously I’m biased, but for me, he deserves everything and it’s hard to see those (bad) things happen,” Harvey says.

“I could see he wasn’t himself and I told him to take a break and I think it was the best thing for him. He’s happier now.”

They’re letting the euphoria of their engagement settle before turning their attention to a wedding but Harvey knows she can’t wait to marry her best friend.

“He has been there supporting me as much as I’ve supported him,” she says.

Having this time together to be still and enjoy each other’s company has helped Renshaw hit the reset button.

With a wedding on the horizon, a new chapter is about to start and Renshaw says he’s ready to begin his redemption journey with Harvey by his side.

“Knowing that I can succeed at the highest level definitely makes me feel like I can get back there, it’s just a matter of when,” he says.