(MENAFN- Kora) Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan and English sports columnist Martin Samuel published damning articles on Sunday, hitting out at Trott and also the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
Vaughan, writing in the Telegraph, argued Trott 'disrespected anybody who has gone through depression and mental illness' after the batsman claimed he was simply 'burnt out' when he left Australia following just the first Ashes Test in Brisbane
"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," Vaughan wrote
"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.
Samuel, who writes for the Daily Mail, labelled the ECB 'despicable' for spinning Trott's form issues as a 'longer-term problem'
Trott abandoned the Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0, after making just 10 and nine in the opening Test at the Gabba
At the time, an ECB official stated: "The cricket side of things is unimportant now
"All that matters is that Jonathan is given the time, support and space he needs to recover.
But last week Trott denied he is 'crazy' or a 'nutcase' and claimed he is ready to fight his way back into the England team
Vaughan, who represented England alongside Marcus Trescothick, whose cricket career effectively ended due to depression, believes Trott's choice of words was 'ill-informed'
"I have friends who have been diagnosed with depression. They are not nutcases or crazy," Vaughan wrote
"They have picked up an illness that is invisible to others but can be debilitating. We have seen other England cricketers suffer from depression and I do not think Trott realises just how important an issue it is
"I have no doubt he was going through hard times in Australia but as professional sportsmen playing in a high-profile, intense series such as the Ashes against good opposition you are going to endure stress when your form goes. It is part of the job.
Samuel queried whether Trott is 'in denial about his mental state' but argued if, in fact, the 32-year-old simply needed a break from cricket, the ECB should be held accountable for the way they used depression to hide their own failings
"If Trott had left Australia with burnout, not depression, the line of questioning would have been very different," Samuel wrote
"It would have centred on the wisdom of playing back-to-back Ashes series, of playing 12 Tests a year and 44 fixtures across all formats. It would have honed in on those who value the wedge over the well-being of the players, or the spiralling cost to the fans
"As it is, the ECB is now suspected of playing fast and loose with modern sensitivity to mental-health issues
"They did nothing to dispel the notion that Trott was suffering in the same way as Marcus Trescothick when, in reality, he may have been no more than a temporary casualty of their fixture list and his own technical frailties.
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