LONDON, England -- England's preparations for their defense of the Ashes have suffered a serious setback with opening batsman Marcus Trescothick heading home from Australia due to a stress-related illness.

Trescothick has suffered a recurrence of the problem that saw him quit the tour of India earlier this year, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Tuesday.

"We are naturally disappointed to lose a player of his quality from our Ashes squad," said coach Duncan Fletcher.

"Everyone in the dressing room hopes that he is able to make a full recovery and resume his cricketing career."

Trescothick played in England's opening first class match against New South Wales which ended in a draw on Tuesday, failing with the bat as he was bowled for eight by Test paceman Brett Lee.

He also made only two runs in the one-day defeat to a Prime Minister's XI and was out of sorts in England's Test series victory over Pakistan this summer after returning to international cricket with a century against Sri Lanka in the spring.

An England and Wales Cricket Board statement said the selectors would hold "urgent discussions" in the next 24 hours about replacing Trescothick in the tour squad.

The most obvious replacements would be Robert Key, Owais Shah or Ed Joyce, who have all been picked for the Academy squad in Perth.

Unexpected news

The unexpected news leaves a vacancy at the top of England's order, with Alastair Cook the man likely to be promoted to partner Andrew Strauss.

Former England Test legend Ian Botham suspected Trescothick might not be ready to face Australia.

He told Sky Sports News: "He came home from the last tour and he was unavailable for the ICC Trophy, and now he's on his way home again so I would think that they've done everything they can.

"It's obviously not worked and now they go back to the drawing board.

Trescothick has made 76 Test appearances for England, scoring 5,825 runs at an average of 43.79 and was a key performer during last summer's Ashes series against Australia.

His withdrawal could not have come at a worse time for the tourists, just nine days before the opening Test of a five-match series in Brisbane.

Following a humiliating reverse in the one-day opener, England did show improved form against New South Wales, with Kevin Pietersen completing a century on Tuesday.

James Anderson took three wickets as New South Wales batted out to 194 for six in their second innings and has lifted himself in the pecking order to claim the fourth seamer's place.

CNN

Well.....looks like the ashes are coming home again

Champions Trophy in the cabinet, Ashes back where they belong........ahhhhhhhhhhh.....all will be well in the world

Ashes star in private hell
By Robert Craddock
November 16, 2006
ENGLAND feared Marcus Trescothick was having a complete mental breakdown when the sobbing cricketer locked himself in his hotel room a day before his SCG dressing room meltdown.

Trescothick arrived home last night after suffering a relapse of a stress disorder, hiding in a toilet and needing to be consoled by a team doctor for two hours.

The dramatic breakdown prompted Trescothick to abandon the Ashes tour, but it was revealed yesterday that team officials had already planned to send the mentally fragile batsman home before Tuesday.

The 30-year-old broke down in his hotel room a day earlier and teammates feared he was on the verge of a total breakdown.

Coach Duncan Fletcher admitted yesterday he had decided to send Trescothick home before the 76-Test star quit the tour.

"He was feeling pretty upset. He wanted to go back," Fletcher said.

"At first we decided maybe the best thing was to get his wife and family out here early but I wasn't too happy with that.

"I was going to speak to Marcus after the game and say we have a difficult tour here, and going to discuss whether he would fly back and not let his wife come out here.

"It was unpleasant in the change room. He was feeling pretty upset. He wanted to go back."

Trescothick's depressive illness is understood to be linked to travelling. He abandoned a tour of India last March after which he acknowledged he might not rescue his career.

Trescothick's departure from Australia was met with widespread sympathy yesterday, with the spotlight now on the increasingly common plight of depression in sport.

Sports psychologists confirmed more and more top athletes - most notably in cricket and rugby - are battling depression as they deal with pressures and expectations on the sporting field.

England selectors came under fire yesterday for choosing the mentally fragile Trescothick for such an important tour.

Former England spinner Phil Tufnell, who spent a night in a psych ward in Perth 12 years ago as he battled his own Ashes demons, questioned whether the ECB had monitored Trescothick properly.

"It beggars belief England have already lost an opening batsman barely a week into the tour," Tufnell said.

"Who was keeping an eye on him and monitoring his progress? This kind of illness is such a cloudy issue you'd have thought the management were keeping very close tabs on it.

"It's a shame England have lost Trescothick. He's fantastic against Shane Warne and can take the fight to the Aussies by scoring quickly and dominating."

Former England captain Geoff Boycott warned more cricketers face possible mental breakdown given the demanding touring schedule set down by cricket's bosses.

"If you think this is a one-off then think again. It is just the beginning and more players will crack up in the future," Boycott said.

"Sadly the game is led by people with one thing on their minds -- making lots of money. It means players are being worked into the ground and the burden of playing non-stop cricket is taking its toll.

"There is a quick and easy way of stopping this happening, but it would involve the game's administrators taking the one step that they dread -- cutting back on the amount of international cricket."

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Cutting back on International Cricket ?! Are they all insane ??? That is the reason we pay them so much now, and I for one would not like to see our money be used to pay for Therapists for those that cannot handle the stresses of the international circuit.

Hands off of our Cricket ya bums.....!