Distraught Jonathan Trott leaves for home

Sydney: England’s Jonathan Trott has left the Ashes tour of Australia with a “stress-related illness”, officials said on Monday, after he was targeted during their huge defeat in a spiteful first Test.

The shock departure, which echoes a situation involving Marcus Trescothick in 2006-2007, comes after Trott made disappointing scores of 10 and nine in the game in Brisbane which England lost by 381 runs.

Trott’s play was blasted as “poor and weak” by Australia’s David Warner during a bad-tempered game, which also saw home captain Michael Clarke fined for warning tail-end batsman James Anderson to “get ready for a broken f*****g arm”.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Trott, 32, would take an indefinite break from cricket and would not be returning to the five-Test tour. “Jonathan Trott has returned from England’s current tour of Australia with a stress-related illness,” an ECB tweet said.

“Trott will take a break from cricket for the foreseeable future and will take no further part in the tour... Trott’s return to cricket will be determined in due course.” Trott has been a stalwart of the England team, accumulating 3,763 runs at an average of 46.45 in his 49 Tests, but he was dismissed tamely in both innings by fiery paceman Mitchell Johnson.

In brief comments released by the ECB, Trott did not give any details but said he could not play on in his current condition. “I don’t feel it’s right that I’m playing knowing that I’m not 100 percent. I cannot currently operate at the level I have done in the past,” he said.

“My priority now is to take a break from cricket so that I can focus on my recovery.”

Former England opener Trescothick, who left the 2006-2007 Ashes tour and was finally forced to quit international cricket because of depression, called it “sad news”.

England coach Andy Flower said Trott’s decision was not directly related to Warner, adding that he had been suffering the condition for some time. But he also criticised the outspoken Warner, saying he had got the situation “horribly wrong”. “We’ve been on tour for a month and he (Trott) has had his ups and downs and it is not directly related,” Flower said of Warner’s insults.

“I will also say that players commenting about fellow professionals in the media is disrespectful and on this occasion he (Warner) has got that horribly wrong. We set different standards and one of the reasons we don’t like comments in the media about opposition players is that we don’t know what is going on in their dressing room or their private lives.”

Australia have lost the last three Ashes series but they came out fired-up at Brisbane’s Gabba ground, where they are unbeaten in 25 years. Coach Darren Lehmann, who earlier urged fans to target England’s Stuart Broad over an incident in the last Ashes series, has said he backed the tough tactics. “I like them playing hard cricket. I like our boys being aggressive without crossing the line,” he said.