Andy Flower has revealed that he and Jonathan Trott made a “joint decision” that the player should return home to England after the close of play on the third day of the first Test – soon after Trott had been dismissed cheaply by Mitchell Johnson for the second time in the match, and when David Warner described those dismissals as “pretty poor and pretty weak” at a press conference.

However, the England team director agreed with Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, that Trott’s abrupt and highly unusual departure was “not down to any particular incident” – although Flower made plain his disgust for Warner’s comments, all the same.

“I think they were ill-advised, I think they were disrespectful,” he said. “I think that competition on the field is fine and perfectly acceptable but having players comment about fellow professionals is disrespectful and I think he overstepped the line there.”

He stopped short of urging either Cricket Australia or the International Cricket Council to punish Warner – the ICC having already fined Australia’s captain Michael Clarke 20 per cent of his match fee for a veiled threat to Jimmy Anderson in the acrimonious climax to the Test.

"We set our own standards and they do theirs but I would not be happy with one of our players making such comments," Flower said. "One of the reasons we don't like commenting on opposition players is that we don't know what is going on in their dressingroom and we don't know what is going on in their private lives. And you don't want to speak from a position of ignorance."

'Too far'
Earlier yesterday, Warner had admitted he and his Australia team-mates may have gone "too far" while sledging England but said the tactic was part of the game. "I made those comments for a reason," Warner said at Brisbane airport, before the announcement of Trott's departure. "It is Ashes cricket. Probably went a little bit too far with the comments but it's cricket and now it's in the back of their mind."

Expressed sympathy
Australia's coach, Darren Lehmann, expressed sympathy for Trott, tweeting: "I wish Johnathon [sic]Trott a speedy recovery from a tough situation, a safe flight home to be with family!"

In a statement announcing his decision to leave, Trott had said: “I don’t feel it is right that I’m playing knowing that I’m not 100 per cent and I cannot currently operate at the level I have done in the past. My priority now is to take a break from cricket so that I can focus on my recovery. I want to wish my team-mates all the very best for the remainder of the tour.”

Flower said that he had been aware of Trott’s condition since he made a stunning debut in the last Test of the 2009 Ashes series at The Oval, and that the 32-year-old had been “managing it” from the start of the tour.

He had been “very concerned” about Trott when he walked out to bat late on the third day, having fallen cheaply to Johnson in the first innings but insisted there had been no doubts, and were now no regrets, about the decision to include him in the first Test team.

“There was always a possibility [of this occurring],” Flower said. “But he’s always managed it really successfully and there was no reason to suggest that this Test should be any different. It is something that has always fluctuated. It was not particularly different this tour to any other time. He’s been dealing with these issues for [all of] his cricket career and dealt with them extremely successfully.

"I can say on record now I have the utmost respect for Jonathan as a bloke, as a really successful international cricketer, I'm lucky that I've been coach while he's been our number three. He's been an absolute rock for us and hopefully he comes back and he has similar success."
Guardian Service