Will Trott play Test cricket again?

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 23: Jonathan Trott of England walks off the field after being dismissed by Mitchell Johnson of Australia during day three of the First Ashes Test match between Australia and England at The Gabba on November 23, 2013 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 23: Jonathan Trott of England walks off the field after being dismissed by Mitchell Johnson of Australia during day three of the First Ashes Test match between Australia and England at The Gabba on November 23, 2013 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Published Nov 27, 2013

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As Jonathan Trott returned home to be greeted by a support network that will aim to help him through the darkest moments of a stress-related illness, England were doing their best to get on with their Ashes tour in the arid heat of Alice Springs.

They already had plenty to think about following defeat by Australia in the first Test at Brisbane. But lurking in the back of their minds may be an uncomfortable question: will they ever share a Test dressing room with their mate again?

The immediate response has been characteristically supportive. ‘Love Trotty,’ tweeted Stuart Broad. ‘Absolute champion of a man. He knows he has all the support of all the people around him. Puts cricket in perspective.’

Yet little is known about the precise nature of Trott’s condition. ‘Stress-related illness’ can cover a multitude of things and the experiences of Marcus Trescothick and Mike Yardy suggest there is no easy road back to the international game from mental illness.

Trescothick left a tour of India in early 2006 and never played another Test abroad, flying home from Australia later that year only two weeks into the trip. Yardy, a World Twenty20 winner, dropped out of the 2011 World Cup in south Asia before settling back into his career with Sussex. Both went on to speak openly about their depression.

Trott will be 33 when England’s summer starts in 2014. As a relative latecomer to Test cricket — he was 29 when he helped clinch the Ashes at The Oval in 2009 with a second-innings hundred — he does not have time on his side.

‘It will be very difficult for him,’ said Sportsmail’s Nasser Hussain. ‘History tells us that it was not an easy thing for Trescothick and Yardy. First up, Trott has to get himself right and forget about cricket. Once he’s 100 per cent, it’s then up to him and the medical people.’

Writing in Wisden about his condition, Yardy admitted: ‘I lost a huge amount of belief and at one stage doubted I could play cricket to a level I wanted. I have been very lucky to have great support, both personally and professionally, but I believe deep down you have to take on depression and its effects yourself: not fight it, but outsmart it.’

The game’s support network has grown beyond measure since the Professional Cricketers’ Association set up a confidential helpline for players struggling with mental health issues in 2006. The PCA are proud that, with the assistance of LPP Consulting, players seeking help can now be seen by a therapist within hours.

The PCA are set to release a video in which Kevin Saxelby talks about his younger brother and fellow Nottinghamshire cricketer Mark, who committed suicide in 2000. Mark visited one doctor who said he couldn’t give him an appointment for three weeks. Shortly afterwards, he killed himself.

Mark Saxelby’s may be an extreme case, but it is being used by the PCA to underline the importance of providing help as quickly as possible to cricketers, whatever the severity of their condition.

PCA assistant chief executive Jason Ratcliffe said: ‘We’re thinking completely about the person rather than the cricketer. It’s about them getting the help they need.

‘If a professional player says he wants time off, it’s entirely up to him.’

Little more than 24 hours after Andy Flower and Hugh Morris broke the news of Trott’s departure from the tour, he had already been in touch with a counsellor.

Trott was bombarded with questions about how he would play the short ball even before he left for Australia and he knows that a return to the top level would be greeted with more of the same.

But England’s first hope is that a friend can set about coming to grips with his condition. Only then will they have an idea about whether the man who has provided much of their batting glue for the past four years will set foot on the international stage again. – Daily Mail

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