James Graham

Quote: Gotcha "You can have a dig all you like at the Opening Poster, but there is a perfect example to back him up.

The name is Stuart Fielden. He was even more superior than Graham, but he was run into the ground and at an early age is the player you see today. Do you really want another Fielden in a couple of years?'"

Not necessarily. If I open a box and find a beetle it doesn't give me any grounds to believe all boxes contain beetles. It may come as a surprise to you, but "Burnout" is a psychological condition - not a physical one. And like all psychological conditions it is poorly understood. The malaise is commonly associated with extreme stress, depression and a variety of other - what you might term negative - emotional states. If we agree that there is such a condition then the probability that an individual will fall victim to it is entirely dependant on his psychological makeup. And no two are ever the same. We have no way of knowing whether Graham is likely to fall victim. He could well play the same way right into his thirties.

There is no doubt that Stuart Fielden experienced an alarming slump in form just when he should have been in his prime - and, barring the odd rally, he has remained there ever since. "Burnout" is the popular explanation. But it's not a certainty. He might well be suffering from injury - perhaps a damaged back (Paul Groves' career nosedived similarly because of such), or groin (Hanley, Sculthorpe). These were [ichronic[/i conditions which, whilst treatable with palliative care, could not be cured and seriously degraded each player's abilities right up to retirement. I am not aware that Fielden is suffering from such an injury - but this is not proof of nonexistance. Choosing to become a professional sportsman doesn't mean you must make your medical history available for public viewing.

Returning to burnout through depression and/or stress, it is worth recalling what Fielden's home life was like when his form began to dip. You may or may not know that he was acting as one of or the primary carer(s) for his father, who was terminally ill with Motor Neurone Disease (the same condition that Stephen Hawking suffers from). I have witnessed the ugly effects of this disease up close and it is not something to be taken lightly. Witnessing the complete physical breakdown of a person whilst knowing he or she remains consciously alert - locked inside a prison of his own body - is heartbreaking. In its terminal stage the patient can be almost completely paralysed. Only the purely autonomic functions remain (heartbeat, brain activity etc.) and eventually even they succumb. In many cases death is through slow asphyxiation. It is not surprising that both sufferers and their families campaign vigorously for the right of assisted suicide.

Fielden could not have gone through such an ordeal without coming out of it a different person - with different priorities. It's part of being human. Bad enough to experience the death of one's father. The torment of witnessing a protracted - dignity robbing - illness must be exponentially more difficult to bear. We're talking about [ilife-changing[/i events here that can completely remodel a person's psychological landscape. Perhaps he no longer felt as driven as he used to (it's no co-incidence that many scientists do their best research when they're between the ages of 20 and 30, when life appears less complicated and the only priority is their work). Or perhaps he simply fell out of love with the game.