Depressed Yardy leaves World Cup
• Sussex captain to fly home immediately • ‘I felt that it was the only sensible option for me’ Michael Yardy has been withdrawn from England’s World Cup squad suffering from depression and has returned home ahead of England’s quarter final match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Yardy was days away from one of the biggest matches of his life, but after consultation with England’s medical staff he has returned home immediately to receive specialist advice as he seeks to overcome an illness that an England Wales Cricket Board statement said he “has been managing for a prolonged period of time.” A statement from Yardy, the Sussex captain, said: “Leaving at this stage of a World Cup campaign was a very difficult decision to make but I felt that it was the only sensible option for me and I wanted to be honest about the reason behind that decision. “I would like to wish the squad all the very best ahead of the game on Saturday. I would appreciate some privacy over the coming weeks while I spend time with family and close friends ahead of what I hope will be a successful season for Sussex.” Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, said: “I would like to offer my full support to Michael on behalf of everyone involved with the England team and the ECB. He has been an integral part of the England set up in recent years and while he will be missed in the knockout stages of the World Cup, our priority now is to ensure that he returns home to his family and is able to spend time recovering with a strong support network around him. ” The ECB has applied to the ICC’s Technical committee to replace Yardy in its CWC squad and is awaiting a decision. He is the fourth player to pull out of England’s World Cup squad in a matter of weeks, following Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad and Ajmal Shahzad, whose involvement was prematurely ended because of injury. Yorkshire’s all-rounder, Adil Rashid, overlooked for the entire winter, would be one of the players in contention along with Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel. Yardy has had a troubled time on the field during the World Cup. He took only two wickets against India, Ireland and South Africa and he looked innocuous on Indian pitches, drawing attention to the fact that England utilise his slow left-arm as a defensive option in one-day cricket even though he is not a regular bowler at county level with Sussex. He was also a vital component of England’s Twenty20 World Cup win in the Caribbean earlier this year but, at 30, it is possible that his international career is now at an end and he will return to a less stressful career on the county circuit. This is not the first time an England player has suffered from a depressive illness. Marcus Trescothick retired from international cricket, failing in several England comeback attempts, because of clinical depression. He has continued to play county cricket and has captained Somerset without any relapse. Trescothick described in his award-winning autobiography the homesickness, sleeplessness and anxiety which forced him to fly home from Test series against India in February 2006 and from Australia later that year. “I would not have wished this illness on my worst enemy,” he said. Sussex were quick to offer support. Mark Robinson, their cricket manager, said: “Sussex are very proud of Michael Yardy and very supportive of his decision, not only to come home but also to be prepared to go public with the reasons. “He’s always been a person admired for his utmost honesty and integrity, and his courage in dealing with this issue emphasises that. As captain and one of our leading players, we’ll give him all the time and all the support necessary so that he can continue to lead this club forward.” Cricket World Cup 2011 Cricket David Hopps guardian.co.uk
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Depressed Yardy leaves World Cup
• Sussex captain to fly home immediately • ‘I felt that it was the only sensible option for me’ Michael Yardy has been withdrawn from England’s World Cup squad suffering from depression and has returned home ahead of England’s quarter final match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Yardy was days away from one of the biggest matches of his life, but after consultation with England’s medical staff he has returned home immediately to receive specialist advice as he seeks to overcome an illness that an England Wales Cricket Board statement said he “has been managing for a prolonged period of time.” A statement from Yardy, the Sussex captain, said: “Leaving at this stage of a World Cup campaign was a very difficult decision to make but I felt that it was the only sensible option for me and I wanted to be honest about the reason behind that decision. “I would like to wish the squad all the very best ahead of the game on Saturday. I would appreciate some privacy over the coming weeks while I spend time with family and close friends ahead of what I hope will be a successful season for Sussex.” Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, said: “I would like to offer my full support to Michael on behalf of everyone involved with the England team and the ECB. He has been an integral part of the England set up in recent years and while he will be missed in the knockout stages of the World Cup, our priority now is to ensure that he returns home to his family and is able to spend time recovering with a strong support network around him. ” The ECB has applied to the ICC’s Technical committee to replace Yardy in its CWC squad and is awaiting a decision. He is the fourth player to pull out of England’s World Cup squad in a matter of weeks, following Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad and Ajmal Shahzad, whose involvement was prematurely ended because of injury. Yorkshire’s all-rounder, Adil Rashid, overlooked for the entire winter, would be one of the players in contention along with Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel. Yardy has had a troubled time on the field during the World Cup. He took only two wickets against India, Ireland and South Africa and he looked innocuous on Indian pitches, drawing attention to the fact that England utilise his slow left-arm as a defensive option in one-day cricket even though he is not a regular bowler at county level with Sussex. He was also a vital component of England’s Twenty20 World Cup win in the Caribbean earlier this year but, at 30, it is possible that his international career is now at an end and he will return to a less stressful career on the county circuit. This is not the first time an England player has suffered from a depressive illness. Marcus Trescothick retired from international cricket, failing in several England comeback attempts, because of clinical depression. He has continued to play county cricket and has captained Somerset without any relapse. Trescothick described in his award-winning autobiography the homesickness, sleeplessness and anxiety which forced him to fly home from Test series against India in February 2006 and from Australia later that year. “I would not have wished this illness on my worst enemy,” he said. Sussex were quick to offer support. Mark Robinson, their cricket manager, said: “Sussex are very proud of Michael Yardy and very supportive of his decision, not only to come home but also to be prepared to go public with the reasons. “He’s always been a person admired for his utmost honesty and integrity, and his courage in dealing with this issue emphasises that. As captain and one of our leading players, we’ll give him all the time and all the support necessary so that he can continue to lead this club forward.” Cricket World Cup 2011 Cricket David Hopps guardian.co.uk
Posted by
on March 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.