Luke Pomersbach bids goodbye to cricket citing depression

Luke Pomersbach

The 29-year-old Australian cricketer Luke Anthony Pomersbach, who has played for the IPL franchises Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore, has retired from professional cricket citing depression as the reason.

Pomersbach, a big-hitting left-handed batsman, has been battling mental issues for some time now and has to finally break bonds with Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat to focus on his recovery.

Queensland Cricket chief executive Geoff Cockerill said that the Board is ready to extend its help from all sides to Pomersbach. "Luke's health is the number one priority in all of this and his doctor has told him that at this point in time, it is essential Luke takes a complete break away from the day-to-day pressures and challenges of professional cricket so that he can continue to concentrate on his recovery and rehabilitation from his illness," he said.

"We appreciate the difficulties and challenges that Luke faces with his illness. The most important thing is that Luke continues to receive the necessary treatment and has the best possible support available to him. To this end, Queensland Cricket has put into place a number of measures to assist Luke to fund the additional medical and other expenses associated with his ongoing treatment and recovery," Cockerill added.

Pomersbach, who made a mark with the Kings XI in IPL 1 before joining the Royal Challengers ahead of IPL 4, acknowledged that his battle with depression had led to his parting ways with the Bangalore-based team in 2011 and largely attributed his career resurrection to the support of the then Bulls coach Darren Lehmann.

Pomersbach acknowledged that leaving cricket at this stage was a very difficult decision.

"I really appreciate all the help and support that I have received from Queensland Cricket over the past three years and especially over the past couple of months leading up to this difficult decision to leave professional cricket so that I can put all my efforts into getting better and making a full recovery. In particular, I would sincerely like to thank Stuart Law and the coaching staff as well as my Bulls and Heat teammates for all the things they have done for me during this difficult time,” Pomersbach said.

It’s worth mentioning that he was the player of the tournament in the 2012-13 edition of the Big Bash and also averaged 50 during last season’s Sheffield Shield.

During his stint with Western Australia, where he faced four suspensions, Pomersbach’s off-field issues were making as much news as his run-scoring abilities. He has represented his country in a solitary T20 international.

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