Sport

Trott out of Ashes tour with stress-related illness

England batsman had been labelled “weak” by Aussies as sledging continues

England’s Jonathan Trott reacts as he leaves the field after losing his wicket to the bowling of Australia’s Mitchell Johnson during day two of the first Ashes test at The Gabba in Brisbane. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.
England’s Jonathan Trott reacts as he leaves the field after losing his wicket to the bowling of Australia’s Mitchell Johnson during day two of the first Ashes test at The Gabba in Brisbane. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.
Mon Nov 25 2013 - 10:17

Former England captain Nasser Hussain expects the sledging to continue in the Ashes series despite Jonathan Trott's departure from the tour with a stress-related illness.

Play on the fourth day at the Gabba was especially heated, with Australia captain Michael Clarke warning England tailender James Anderson to "get ready for a broken f****** arm" as he prepared to face fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, a comment for which he has now been fined.

Trott was described as "weak" by Australia batsman David Warner during the match after the batsman struggled against Johnson's pace. England team director Andy Flower said those comments were "not a contributing factor" in Trott's departure but that they were "disrespectful".

Asked if he felt the series may now calm down a bit, Hussain told Sky Sports: “Your first go-to people after your family on tour are your team-mates so they will have been keeping an eye on Trotty throughout the whole week. So (Warner’s comments) will have hurt.

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“I don’t expect the other sledging to die down too much at all — this is an Ashes battle and it will continue to be an Ashes battle. I don’t expect it to be played any differently.

“I thought it was a little bit over the top on Sunday to be honest. It was a little bit of disrespect from Australia, there was no need for that at the end, but that’s Ashes cricket — it’s tough.”

Commenting on the news of Trott’s exit from the tour, Hussain added: “It’s shocking news, no one had any whispers of it at all. I had a chat with Jonathan the day before the first test and he seemed fine, but you never know what’s going on in someone’s mind.

“Andy (Flower) said it has been going on for a while. He felt he was okay in the warm-up games but obviously the first Ashes Test at the Gabba is a highly stressful occasion and it’s just tipped him over the edge.

"It's happened before, it happened to Marcus Trescothick. I was playing with Tres for a long time and Tres was one of the toughest cricketers I ever played with. We had no idea of it at all until it happened to him. This will come as a real shock to the team and everyone involved out here."

Hussain believes Joe Root may now compete with Ian Bell for the number three slot, with Jonny Bairstow "the first cab on the rank" to come into the team lower down the order.

“The obvious choice to bat number three is Ian Bell, but just watching the way Joe Root played on Sunday, how he played Mitchell Johnson, how relaxed he was at the crease, how he managed the tail, that might just say to Andy Flower ‘what about Joe Root?’.

“The problem with that is that Joe Root will have gone from (number) six, to two, to six, to three. As a young batsman you don’t want to be moving him around too much.”