Former England captain Michael Vaughan has claimed that Jonathan Trott's Ashes walkout this winter was a case of him bailing when times were tough, rather than because of mental health problems.
Trott flew home from the away series against Australia, which England went on to lose 5-0, after the first Test, with the ECB citing a "stress-related illness".
The Warwickshire batsman has since explained that he was "burnt out" and not depressed, and Vaughan does not believe that is a good enough reason for Trott to have abandoned his teammates during the middle of a tour, and feels "conned" that he used the veil of mental health to shield him from criticism.
"I feel a little bit conned. We were told Jonathan's problems in Australia were a stress-related illness he had suffered for years," Vaughan wrote in his Telegraph column. "We were allowed to believe he was struggling with a serious mental health issue and treated him with sensitivity and sympathy. He was struggling for cricketing reasons and not mental - and there is a massive difference.
"I have friends who have been diagnosed with depression. They have an illness that is invisible to others but can be debilitating. I do not think Trott realises just how important an issue it is.
"What Trott will have to accept is that players in his own dressing room and in the opposition will look at him and think at the toughest of times he did a runner. Trott was failing on the biggest stage and he admitted that the previous occasion he suffered burnout was in South Africa in 2009-10, the only other time he has faced top-quality fast bowling.
"He was in a bad state mentally in both series but also technically. Until he corrects the faults in his game against fast bowling, he will not get any better. He did not fight and got on a plane and went home. It is harsh but that is the reality."
Trott scored 312 runs in 12 innings over six Tests in the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013-2014.
Joe Fish
