Simon Mark James Cusden (born 21 February 1985) is a former professional cricketer, who now helps high performing individuals and teams prevent and treat wellbeing and performance crisis. Cusden S (2014
Coaching people
''All Out Cricket'', 2014-01-29.Cusden S (2015
The age of the mentor
''All Out Cricket'', 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2017-04-30. Born in

Thanet Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College *Thanet Canal, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Cusden played for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

between 2004 and 2006.Collis J (2004
Cusden wields the axe for Kent
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2004-09-07. Retrieved 2017-04-30. After being released by Kent at the end of the 2006 season he joined

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

but was in turn released by them after making only one first-class appearance during 2007.Simon Cusden
BBC Derby, 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2017-04-30.

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

, 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2007-09-12. He played a total of seven first-class matches and six List A matches in his playing career.Simon Cusden
Cricket Derbyshire Foundation. Retrieved 2017-04-30. He represented England Under-19's touring

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 2002–2003. In the Under-19s test against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

in July 2004, Cusden claimed four wickets and was top wicket taker in the test and one day series. After playing for Elvaston Cricket Club in

for two seasons following his release by Derbyshire, Cusden moved to Australia. He set up his own cricket coaching company.Cricket: Former Derbyshire all-rounder Simon Cusden's remarkable story
''

Derby Telegraph The ''Derby Telegraph'', formerly the ''Derby Evening Telegraph'', is a daily tabloid newspaper distributed in the Derby area of England. Stories produced by the Derby Telegraph team are published online under the Derbyshire Live brand. Histor ...

'', 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2017-04-30.Gaskin L (2013
Carters at home helping cricketers
''

Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2017-04-30. Cusden has spoken of the mental health issues he faced whilst playing and after leaving the professional game. For a time he abused alcohol and attempted to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

on one occasion. The

Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In t ...

Benevolent Fund provided assistance to him after the attempt and he was admitted to a rehabilitation centre to aid his recovery.Cricket's mental health crisis: the unseen stories
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2018-10-26.Bruce A (2017
Cusden thanks PCA after suicide attempt
Kent Sport News, 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2018-10-26. Nearly a decade later, Cusden now works as a private coach for senior leaders and high performers who are suffering silently from depression, addiction and suicidal ideation. Simon lives in Somerset with his wife, Jess and their twin sons - Jupiter and Phoenix.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusden, Simon 1985 births Living people English cricketers Kent cricketers Derbyshire cricketers