We’re 100% behind Michael Yardy, says Andrew Strauss

England left-arm spinner Michael Yardy’s return to England mid-way from the World Cup due to depression has reignited the debate of player’s burn out. However, skipper Andrew Strauss was supportive of his teammate as this kind of an incident is not new for him.

Strauss has seen his opening partner Marcus Trescothick return home during England’s tour of India in 2006 citing personal reasons and later blamed a virus. So, this is nothing new to England players, who have been touring since the start of Ashes, November last year.

The 34-year-old said the team is fully behind Yardy. “It’s a horrible thing for him to have to go through. I found out about it late in the night before he went home. It’s something he has been managing for a while and there have been systems in place to help him manage it, but over the last week or so, it’s got too much for him and he has had to go home. We are 100 per cent fully behind him,” he told the media ahead of his team’s quarterfinal tie against Sri Lanka at R Premadasa International Stadium on Saturday.

“Obviously, we have had some previous experience of this with Marcus Trescothick. I think we all know a lot more about it now. We also know there are ways of managing it. For the time being, it’s desperately disappointing for him, and it’s disappointing for us as a squad as well, to not have him with us,” he added.

Stress and depression are two different things and some know how to deal with it some don’t, said Strauss.  “Of course international cricket is challenging in terms of how you are temperamentally equipped with spending long periods away from home. That’s something we all go through. Depression is something completely different,” he said.