Former England captain Michael Vaughan felt deceived by Jonathan Trott's revelation last weekend that he left England's Ashes tour of Australia suffering from "burn out", he revealed today.
When Trott quit what turned out to be a 5-0 Ashes thrashing by Australia after twice falling cheaply to fast bowler Mitchell Johnson in the first Test in Brisbane, England officials said he was suffering from a "stress-related illness".
However, South Africa-born batsman Trott told Sky he'd been "burnt out" but was not depressed.
That prompted Vaughan, England captain from 2003-2008, to write in his column in today's Daily Telegraph: "I feel a little bit conned we were told Jonathan Trott's problems in Australia were a stress-related illness he had suffered for years.
"We were allowed to believe he was struggling with a serious mental health issue and treated him with sensitivity and sympathy.
"He was obviously not in a great place but he was struggling for cricketing reasons and not mental, and there is a massive difference.
"There is a danger we are starting to use stress-related illness and depression too quickly as tags for players under pressure," Vaughan, himself a former top-order batsman, added.
In his interview with Sky, Trott said he feared the public thinking he was a "nutcase", adding that he wasn't "crazy".
However, Vaughan wrote Trott had "completely disrespected anybody who has gone through depression and mental illness by using words such as 'nutcase' or 'crazy'.
"We have seen other England cricketers suffer from depression," said Vaughan, whose former Test colleague Marcus Trescothick had his international career cut short by a stress-related illness.
"I do not think Trott realises just how important an issue it is.
"When I hear players talking about burnout, I suspect it is an excuse. You never see players retiring from sport and talking about burnout when they are playing well.
