Marcus Trescothick has become the third cricketer this year after Lou Vincent and Shaun Tait to reveal that they were suffering from stress-related illnesses. Their speaking out needs to be appreciated, writes Mike Atherton in the Times.

No doubt there are still some old-timers who shake their heads and tut-tut about the softness of the modern game and its participants. Those, however, who truly remember what it was like may recall times when they, too, trod perilously close to the line. Diagnostics and the better support systems on offer are light years away from what was available to previous generations, but that is not to say that problems did not exist. From my own era, if they were honest with themselves, Graham Thorpe and Phil Tufnell would surely admit that, at times, they were in no fit state to be batting and bowling in the backyard, never mind playing for England.

He continues …

I would have thought that it would be easier to keep going in some kind of private hell, grinning to the world and playing up to the myth of invincibility that generations of sports writers encouraged, than to admit to their problems. Their speaking out is to be admired, especially since it may convince others in similar circumstances to do the same and to seek help before it is too late.

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