Cricket is not for sissies: Klusener

No player cried off a tour during Lance Klusener's time as an international player, and if they had they would have been told to "get on with" the job.

Klusener, who held his own in an SA dressing room that wasn't short of hard men, such as Hansie Cronje, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten, Pat Symcox and the like, was puzzled by aspects of Jonathan Trott's decision to leave England's tour of Australia after one Test because of a stress-related condition.

"The timing begs the question," said Klusener, who was named man of the tournament after the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England.

"Sometimes, three-quarters of the way through a tour, the coach will tell you to take a break. But it's strange that it's come at the beginning of a tour," said Klusener, who played for SA between 1996 and 2004.

Now the coach of the Dolphins, Klusener said cricket had changed. "People are more accommodating. Performance is not necessarily purely technical - mental freshness is also important."

Craig Smith, the SA team's physiotherapist from 1991 to 2002, said players' mental issues should be acknowledged similarly to physical injuries.

"In terms of the effect they have on a player's performance, what's the difference between a torn hamstring and a brain spasm?"

Smith became acquainted with Trott during the seven years he spent on the county circuit after he left the SA side. "He's a quiet guy; he's not into sledging," Smith said.

He described what was known of Trott's problem as "the tip of the iceberg". Smith concurred with Klusener that SA's players had not asked to leave tours, although "some of the guys would get really homesick and it affected their performance". SA-born Trott left for his home near Birmingham soon after Australia confounded predictions by winning the first Ashes Test by 381 runs with a day to spare at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday. Trott scored 10 and nine. Both of his innings were ended by short deliveries from Mitchell Johnson.

"There were a couple of nice ones zinging past [Trott's] nose," Johnson said.