Alex Carey shows full support to Maxwell, Maddinson

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Australia A skipper Alex Carey showcased his full support to all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson who made themselves unavailable from cricket due to mental health issues.

"Those two guys are close mates of mine and I fully support those boys, along with the whole cricket family, we're right behind those guys to get well. We give them our full support. Chris Lynn said it the other day, they've both got the support of the full Australian cricket public and first and foremost is the mental health and wellbeing of every player in the system," ESPNcricinfo quoted Carey as saying.

"Maxwell and Maddinson are going okay. I've sent my support and taken a back seat now and let the family, friends and close support around them take care of that," he added.

Opening batsman Maddinson on Saturday withdrew himself from Australia A squad on the grounds of mental health while Maxwell had decided to take a short break from cricket to deal with his mental health issues.

On October 31, Cricket Australia (CA) announced Maxwell's decision to take a break from cricket, and as a result, he was replaced by D'Arcy Short in the Australian squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

"Glenn Maxwell has been experiencing some difficulties with regards to his mental health. As a result, he will spend a short time away from the game. Glenn was proactive in identifying these issues and engaging with support staff," CA's Support Team psychologist Dr Michael Lloyd had said in an official statement.

Carey lauded the courage shown by both the cricketers by revealing their mental health conditions and said it's great that they did speak up.

"For some people, it is easier to speak up and for those two boys to have the courage to speak up, it's great to see them not fighting through that. Some people can put a bit of a shield up and that's not what we want. We want guys being honest and being able to talk. Justin Langer flagged it the other day with Maxi, so we've got really close relationships and it's great that they did speak up," Carey said.

"Any person, cricketer, someone working down the road, I think everyone should be able to speak up," Carey said. "As we've seen with Danny Frawley as well, it's around and we've got to have the courage to speak up, and it's great that those two guys have done. It does set a good example for young people, for anyone," he added.