Published: Sep 23, 2016, 02:02 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 23, 2016, 02:25 PM (IST)
Former England players are upset with each other and the reason is very much stands true. Michael Vaughan has fired back at former England batsman Jonathan Trott claiming ‘an attack on my honesty’ in Trott’s new autobiography. From Trott’s book Ungaurded that was published in The Times, where he has questioned on Vaughan’s mid-series exit from 2013-14 Ashes series in Australia. Trott, who returned home following the first Test of that series due to a “stress-related illness”, came under fire from Vaughan later in 2014, saying he felt “conned” following an extensive interview in which Trott explained the details of his departure from the Ashes tour.
In his column on The Telegraph, Vaughan wrote, “We were allowed to believe he was struggling with a serious mental health issue … but he was struggling for cricketing reasons and not mental, and there is a massive difference”. Trott was also asked about these questions from television personality Piers Morgan, but the England batsman questioned the former skipper’s impartiality. Trott wrote, “If I was out of the way – and Vaughan’s scorn for my condition made it quite clear that he thought I should be banished for ever – might there be more room in the side for the likes of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow … Scott Borthwick and Ben Stokes? Only Michael Vaughan can tell you for sure whether he was influenced by that relationship.”
He further mentioned, “But it shocked me that the BBC and the Telegraph continued to use him as an analyst despite the possibility of the perception of a conflict of interest. Surely there should have been a disclaimer at the end of every article he wrote or every show on which he appeared letting the public know the context of his views? Anyway, at the time, it felt as if Vaughan was trying to crush me when I was down.” ALSO READ: Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan bash Eoin Morgan for pulling out of Bangladesh tour
Since Vaughan’s retirement since 2008, Trott said “Michael Vaughan and I both batted at No 3 for England with reasonable success but it is almost the only thing we have in common,” he said. I have a bald head and chipped teeth; he has new hair and suddenly has brilliant white teeth. I think that’s a pretty reasonable reflection of our differing characters.” ALSO READ: Michael Vaughan: England players should trust security experts and tour Bangladesh
Vaughan took to his Twitter account and his legal team had been involved in the excerpt The Times had published. Vaughan said, “It is wholly wrong and entirely false to suggest that any comments I have made concerning professional cricketers are anything other than my genuinely held, honest opinions. Criticism of my opinions, my actions and even personal criticisms are all fair game, but I will not accept any attack on my honesty or my integrity. Nor will I accept accusations that I set out to positively damage the career of any professional. My solicitors have today written to the Times concerning the inaccuracy of the article.” ALSO READ: Alastair Cook, Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott unwilling to wear better designed helmets
My statement regarding articles and comments in the Times today …. pic.twitter.com/Cc7I1n4Kbr
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 22, 2016
Trott also hit back at Eoin Morgan saying the the media pundit’s comments were damaging to the public perception of mental illness, “He said something along the lines of me quitting the Ashes tour because I couldn’t handle the pace of Mitchell Johnson and spoke with remarkable authority when he stated I ‘wasn’t depressed or mentally ill’. I don’t know Piers at all – and vice versa, of course – and I’m reasonably sure we’ve never met. To come to those conclusions at a distance and then have the certainty to broadcast them as if they were informed and factual seemed fairly extraordinary to me. And, at the time, it really wasn’t very helpful. By doing so, he perpetuated the lazy generalisation that these stress-related conditions are just a sign of weakness.
He concluded saying, “While probably not realising it, he made it harder for other people – be they in entertainment, or law, or nursing or teaching – to open up and discuss their problems as they risked being dismissed in the same way I was.”
