Jonathan Trott was suffering from stress-related illness, says Graeme Swann

The former England spinner has said Trott was visibly ill during the Ashes down under.

Mar 23, 2014

Retired English off-spinner, Graeme Swann has defended underfire Jonathan Trott saying that the batsman did return home midway through the Ashes downunder due to stress-related illness.

This could be an astonishing revelation as it contradicts troubled Trott’s own claims that he was suffering from burn-out.

In his first interviews since flying home at the end of the first Test in Brisbane, Trott said his problems were not  ‘stress-related’, as announced by England, and he flatly denied he had been suffering from depression.

That brought a barrage of criticism from many former England cricketers, especially from Michael Vaughan. He felt ‘conned’ by England who, he claimed, had exaggerated the seriousness of the batsman’s mental state.

But Swann, who quit all international cricket on the same tour, totally disagrees with Trott’s diagnosis.

Swann said, “With my limited understanding of stress-related illness, I’d say it definitely was that” in an interview to MailOnline.co.uk.

Swann said everybody in the dressing room knew very well that Trott was severely struggling. “People knew there was something going on with Trotty because we were in the changing room with him and we could see the bloke was struggling.

“He burst into tears in the changing room, it was a bad place for him, so everyone was like, “what’s going to happen with Trotty?”

“We had a meeting after the first Test and coach Andy Flower said he needs time… he needs a break from the game.

“Trotty has had criticism this week but it is very dangerous for anyone who isn’t a mental health professional to comment on whether it is or not. I just know he was really struggling and needed to get away”, added the former spinner.

“If he says he feels great and ready to come back people should embrace that and say, “good on you, you’re a world-class player”. But some people will feel conned because we live in a very cynical society.”

Trott intends to return in Warwickshire’s pre-season match against Oxford University next month and has targeted England’s one-day clash with Scotland in Aberdeen on May 9 for his international comeback.

But England will not rush him back until he shows he really is over his problems.