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SYDNEY - England coach Duncan Fletcher was already planning to send Marcus Trescothick home when the opening batsman walked out of the Ashes cricket tour with a recurrence of a stress-related illness.
Trescothick left Sydney on Tuesday night, nine days before the start of the most-anticipated Ashes series in decades, after a repeat of the personal problems that led him to quit England's tour of India this year.
Fletcher said yesterday he was preparing to tell Trescothick he should leave when the 30-year-old told him he had made up his own mind to return home. "It was a difficult decision and I was uncomfortable about it but it was taken out of my hands," Fletcher said.
"He came off [the field] and was feeling pretty upset. He wanted to go back."
Fletcher said the England management held several meetings with Trescothick after he notified the medical staff on Sunday about his state of mind following the first day of the team's warm-up match against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The management had offered to fly his family out from England to accompany him on the rest of the tour before deciding the best solution was for Trescothick to return home.
"At first, we decided maybe the best thing was to get his wife and kids out here early but I was uncomfortable with that," Fletcher said. "Was it going to help the problem or would we be having this problem around the squad?"
He was going to discuss with Trescothick about going home rather than bringing his wife out but that conversation never took place after the batsman broke down before the match finished, saying he wanted to go home.
"I can't go into [details] but it was unpleasant, it was unpleasant in the change room with him," Fletcher said. "He was upset and the doctor just had to sit with him and console him for about two hours or so."
Trescothick has been one of England's most reliable players since he made his test debut six years ago, scoring 5825 runs in 76 tests.
But the first signs of trouble began to appear when he walked out of England's tour of India this year because of stress illness.
The left-handed opener also missed the recent Champions Trophy in India because of lingering problems.
Irish-born batsman Ed Joyce has been called in as a replacement for Trescothick. The 28-year-old has played three one-day internationals for England but is uncapped at test level.
- REUTERS
