Manchester City's psychologist returns for England ahead of T20 World Cup 2024

The England men's cricket team has hired Manchester City's psychologist David Young ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 to help the players deal with emotional vulnerability during the tournament. Head coach Matthew Mott believes Young will be a useful asset, having previously worked with a similar set of players.

Young was associated with the men's team from 2016 to 2020 and has witnessed unprecedented success with the City. The renowned football club became the first quite recently to win four Premier League titles in a row.

Addressing the appointment, Mott said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

"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. 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."

Defending champions England will be keen to do well after their poor showing at the 2023 World Cup. Contrary to expectations, Jos Buttler and Co. performed poorly and were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.

"We feel like it's time to get the mojo back" - England coach

Matthew Mott. (Image Credits: Getty)

Mott added that T20 doesn't require a much more measured approach than ODIs and backed England to defend their crown successfully. He said:

"We feel like it's time to get the mojo back and go out and really express ourselves as a team. I think T20, as opposed to ODI, is so much clearer in the way the players can approach it.

"We've seen in the IPL, you have to go out and really take the game on from the start. Most teams are going to go that way, so it's going to be an exciting World Cup."

The English became only the second team after the West Indies to win the crown twice. They beat Pakistan by five wickets at the MCG to accomplish the feat at the 2022 T20 World Cup.