It's getting tougher to be a sporting superstar

The biggest sporting shock this week was the announcement that Ben Stokes, wonderful all-round cricketing genius and hero of everyone who loves the game, is to take indefinite leave because of a build-up of mental strain and pressure over the last 18 months. Not only did he break his finger badly and it hasn't really mended properly but he had to play constant cricket at the highest level while quarantining in a Covid bubble, unable to see his wife and kids. There must be others who are feeling desperately under mental strain and perhaps trying to hide it because they want to continue performing. Ben Stokes's decision might open the floodgates. Likewise the decision by Simone Biles, another sporting superstar - the finest female gymnast of all time - to stop performing her brilliance at the olympic Games in Tokyo because of genuine fears for her mental well-being after she started to fail to reach her normal fabulous standards could have long-term repercussions for sport of all kinds. For us lesser mortals it might seem difficult to understand why these amazing sportsmen and women can't just carry on entertaining us as they do every time they appear. But the pressures on the best of the best performers are now so great that clearly it has become unbearable, especially during a pandemic. It has to be said, however, that if Simone Biles decides not to perform in any of her events in Tokyo it will take the shine off what is always such an exciting sport to watch in the Olympics. And the absence of Ben Stokes on the cricket field will surely be one of the greatest disappoinments of the year for all cricket lovers.