The Sussex County Cricket Club squad have recently benefitted from Professional Cricketers’ Association funding to undergo skin screening checks to protect themselves from a career in the sun.
The session was part of the PCA’s Personal Development and Welfare Programme which is the Association’s commitment to supporting members to manage their health and welfare throughout their career and beyond.
The PCA proactively supports all first-class counties with funding for professional sun screening with Sussex sourcing two doctors from Hove Skin Clinic to screen their senior and senior academy squads as well as coaches.
"The PCA funding was the difference between us making it financially viable to the club."
BRENT EALES, SUSSEX TEAM PHYSIOTHERAPIST
The assessments carried out on players checked freckles, moles or any skin lesions which could be dangerous or need treatment. The two doctors in attendance also gave advice on making sure players are using sun cream correctly whilst providing the Sussex medical team a summary of who needs to keep an eye on any suspicious lesions.
One of the players screened was Sussex and England Lions fast bowler George Garton who spent time over the winter in Australia and the Caribbean to underline the importance of checking skin regularly.
“It is obviously a vital thing to get your skin checked and to make sure you are using the sun cream properly and to keep regularly checking to keep on top of things,” said Garton.
“Especially with the job we do out in the sun all the time in the summer.
“Most cricketers don’t want to stay in England during the winter and spend their winters in sunnier places so I guess we are in the sun all year round so that means it’s more important to get checked out regularly.
“We are all very grateful and lucky the fact the PCA fund this and allow us to keep on top of this.”
"The PCA do a lot for us and this is one of the many things us as cricketers are grateful for.”
GEORGE GARTON, SUSSEX FAST BOWLER
Sussex Team Physiotherapist Brent Eales organised the consultation with skin specialists at Hove and explained the importance of PCA funding to protect their squads.
“It is really important, everyone has moles or freckles but it’s about finding the suspicious ones and they do change,” said Eales.
“Quite often you might not know if you are carrying a skin cancer as you can’t see it in places like at the base of your neck or behind your ear for example.
“The PCA funding was the difference between us making it financially viable to the club and not to be honest. It can be quite expensive to arrange the specialist medical assistance that is required for the screening.
“In the end we were able to screen everyone in terms of the senior squad, senior academy and all the coaches. If we didn’t have the money from the PCA then we would have only been able to do the senior squad and even then it would have been a tough financial situation for the club so the money from the PCA was extremely helpful.”
