'Glad I've been able to come through it' – Bolton opens up on mental health battle

Bolton said that her mental health would've forced her to retire, had she not stepped away from the game for the time period.

“Personally a few things happened to me away from cricket which was a bit of a challenge in itself,” Bolton told Fox Cricket. “There is still a lot of stigma around mental health, depression and anxiety. I don’t think I’d be sitting here talking to you if I didn’t take a break. I potentially would have retired to be honest.”

Bolton's performance by no means was a reason for her being mentally disturbed. The 30-year-old stepped away from cricket indefinitely during the WBBL in January, citing personal reasons. This was after she had produced a match winning performance for Perth Scorchers wherein she scored a fifty and picked up two wickets against Sydney Thunder.

"It was what people couldn't see behind closed doors where I was really struggling," Bolton continued. Physically my body started to fail me in a sense. It was like alarm bells because I was like 'this isn't normal'. I was almost covering up how I was really feeling. "I didn't want to rush it. It was something I knew that if I was going to take the time off, I had to do it properly. If that meant never coming back to play for Australia, then that's what it meant."

Bolton, who scored a century on her ODI debut against England in 2014, credited New South Wales all-rounder Moses Henriques, who had himself taken a leave from BBL duty in late-December 2017 due to mental health reasons, and later helped Bolton overcome her mental turmoil. "He doesn't know the role that he's played, but it's unbelievable really," Bolton said.

The Western Australia cricketer is excited about her upcoming Ashes tour to England and the long international cricketing calendar that follows thereafter. "Coming back into the squad, they were just rapt and even the staff were pumped," Bolton said. "I never once felt alone, I knew I had the support I just needed a bit of help to get there. To be picked to play for Australia again I think is a massive achievement."

"In time, I hope I can share my experience and maybe help someone else. It was an important time in my life and I'm glad I've been able to come through it," she concluded.