Trott in the right but too many are in the wrong

Plenty has been offered on the subject of Jonathan Trott in the past couple of days.

Some by the man himself – an interview on Sky Sports saw him giving his side of the story – some by those paid to comment on such arisings, some by those with a considered opinion on Trott and his actions and some by the fools who are drawn into spouting needless and spiteful bile.

Trott’s admission of complete exhaustion that saw him exit the Ashes tour post Brisbane should be welcomed.

That he hits a cricket ball for a living is no different to somebody who taps keyboards, administers medicine or teaches school children.

We are all wired differently, a factor conveniently overlooked or not even considered by far too many, and this kind of problem doesn’t discriminate.

A demanding schedule, a high-pressure environment, endless scrutiny and an individualistic pursuit could all have contributed but it is neither here nor there.

If Trott had reached the summit and didn’t like what he saw on the other side then he did the correct thing in applying the brakes and it really is as simple as that.

And he should be taken at his word, after all he is the one who knows, and it is his wellbeing that should be paramount.

The difficulty arose because the ECB, at the time, revealed their employee had been suffering from a stress-related illness for a while and that they were aware of it.

With this subsequently denied by the man himself, the waters have been well and truly muddied, but nothing is quite certain yet.

Was it fire-fighting? Merely pouring cold water on an issue they knew would escalate?

Could it have been a form of protectionism? To confess to a burnt-out player would be an admission that their wringing of every last drop of cash from their marquee side was far from the ideal way to go.

Or was it a further example of a PR machine that contains numerous glitches and just doesn’t work?

The answer probably contains a bit of all three, but hindsight would indicate that to put up the truth in the first instance and deal with the consequences would cause less mud-slinging than is doing the rounds.

By bringing the spectre of an illness into the open, a tip-toeing of sorts was necessitated, and quite rightly so, yet that has done none of the involved parties any favours.

Any comment seeming to mock such a condition – David Warner springs to mind – was eagerly pounced on and what has transpired alters all context.

This is where some real perspective has to be applied.

There is no shame in reaching your limit. Why should there be? Any inclined to throw out accusations such as bottler and choker are way wide of the mark.

It wasn’t running from the fight or the loss of any competitive edge, it was exhaustion.

There has to be some relation to stress among all of this. Stresses of some sort forced Trott’s hand, however, there isn’t any underhand motive at work that this writer can see.

Those who feel he shouldn’t have even been on the tour if his condition was known about – see above water-muddying comment – also are missing the point.

If Trott was going to reach this point then the fact Mitchell Johnson gave him a roughing up is irrelevant as time and place are uncontrollable factors.

To condemn for an ailment that could point its arrow in any direction is uncalled for. Surely the most important thing is that Trott is at, or is on the way to, a point where he is recovered.

If anything, all of this should serve two warnings.

One is to those who continue, with no signs of stopping, to dream up punishing schedules that demand too much of the protagonists.

The other is to any governing body who feel that media management serves any real purpose.

The continuation of the first, and the second come to think of it, will give birth to more instances of the aforementioned.

No clear answer is available as this is a complex matter.

Yet the Trott saga has been distinctly unedifying, from the haunted number three who had to leave Australia, to some of the vitriol now coursing through the broadband fibres.

Avoidance and not encouragement needs to be the watchword.