After the first Test, news broke Jonathan Trott was suffering personal problems and he has been given praise for standing up for himself.
In the end, the Ashes is just a game of cricket (despite how heated it has become recently with bouncers and sledging) but no one knows what he may be thinking or going through right now.
But the question is why didn’t he pull out before the first Test or even before the series?
It is a surprise to see him pull out now rather than earlier, given how long an Ashes tour can be.
England have been in Australia for nearly a month now and it’s remarkable to think he wanted to continue playing, despite what has been going on in his life on and off the field.
I’m sure he would be used to long tours and travel, just like every other professional sportsman, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy to stay focused and happy physically and mentally given all the commitments there are in today’s game.
He would have been better off using the time between the end of the one day series, before England travelled over here, to talk to team management and welfare support about not being selected so he would be on a quicker road to recovery.
The question is not when will he be back, it’s if he is going to be ok given what has happened in the last month.
It is OK to be selfish, especially in this regard, as his well-being is the most important thing here.
I’m sure he would have wanted to play the whole tour but realised he couldn’t given what has been going on in his life.
He could be back in a month, three months, a year or possibly never given how serious this is and he may decide he can’t have cricket in his life as it may be the thing that makes it harder to feel good about himself.
Being 32, if he did walk away he can hold his head high at the achievements he has, he played in a World Cup, played 49 Test matches for a consistent side, made Test hundreds and played in four Ashes series.
Of course putting cricket rivalries aside and life as first priority, hopefully he can get better and make a successful return to the game however long that may take.
If he did return he most likely would play on until 2017 if he wanted to play the next Ashes series in Australia.
Hopefully other sportsmen around the world see after this that it is ok to look after yourself no matter how big or small the game/series is.
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