Trescothick blames India tour exit on bug and burn-out

Marcus Trescothick yesterday cited a mystery virus and burn-out as the reasons for him returning home early from England's tour of India despite an ECB statement at the time saying that his departure was for "personal reasons".

The opener blamed six years of non-stop cricket for his absence from the current tour but hopes to be fit for England's summer series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Asked on Sky Sports News if his problems were behind him, Trescothick said: "Very much behind me - I just needed a break.

"Playing six years of solid international cricket takes its toll and you get to certain stages of your career and you know you just need to be with your family, take a bit of time out, recharge the batteries and then go again," he said. "The main reason [I left India] was I picked up a bug out there and it really hit me hard. I wasn't sleeping and I couldn't shake it off. I couldn't eat too much, I wasn't really drinking and it took its toll. It got to the point when I said, 'Look, I'm fatigued'. I was struggling to concentrate on my cricket as much as I can do leading up to a big Test and prepare in the right way. So I spoke to the people that I needed to and decided that the right thing to do was to come home.

"I was in communication with the doctor Peter Gregory out there... He was keeping an eye on how I was feeling just to make sure everything was all right. When I finally made the decision, I spoke to [the England coach] Duncan Fletcher. Fletcher and [the captain] Michael Vaughan were thoroughly supportive and accepted what I needed to do."

Asked if he would tour again, Trescothick said: "Oh for sure. I'm making myself available for Somerset at the start of the year and hopefully things will then flow from that." But he could not guarantee he would not fall foul of the virus in future. "The virus is a funny one - it has stuck with me for such a long time. Up until about three weeks ago I was getting relapses if I trained too hard... so if I picked up another virus I wouldn't think it would affect me in any different way.

"Having this time to really have a rest, it made me realise again why I play the game. We play so much. We spend 300 nights of the year out of our own house, either travelling the world or in hotels preparing for games in England, so I think there are times when you do need to have a rest."