Fletcher: Tresy cried when he was given out, we had to send him back home

They first came to light on our Indian tour of 2006 when Michael Vaughan broke down in Baroda through injury and we asked Trescothick to take over as captain against an Indian Board President's XI.

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Sadly, it proved too much for him. I had heard he had not been sleeping at night, but that is not unusual for anyone on tour.

But when he was batting during our second innings somebody mentioned 'Tres is acting very strangely.'

Sure enough, after he was out for a decent 32 he walked off with head bowed and clearly in distress.

I walked into the dressing room to see him crying his eyes out. I asked: "What's wrong Tresy?"

"I don't know," he said very emotionally.

He got up and walked outside in full view of all the Indian side and their officials.

"No, no, Tres, you've got to get back inside," I said anxiously.

He was embarrassing himself by going outside.

I fetched the doctor, Peter Gregory, and suggested he take Trescothick back to the hotel.

It was then that Gregory told me he had been staying up most nights with Trescothick.

I did not realise it was that bad.

"He just won't sleep," said Gregory.

There was nothing else for it but for Trescothick to go home.

We sent a security guard to fly with him just to check he was OK.

The whole episode was awful.

I like Trescothick very much and I think that made it worse.

I never wanted to see someone in that sort of state again.

During the following summer I heard a whisper Trescothick was not going to India for the ICC Champions Trophy, but would be OK for the Ashes.

That worried me.

I had had these problems before with Alec Stewart and Darren Gough when I felt they wanted to pick and choose tours.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney advised me to speak to the clinical psychologist who had been treating Trescothick; he told me he could not go to India because it was where the problem had first occurred and it was too recent a memory.

"Give me another year working with him and it would be fine for him to go to India," the psychologist said.

We took this advice and pulled Trescothick out of the Champions Trophy and selected him for the Ashes.

Sadly, though, his stress-related problems soon resurfaced.

During the match against New South Wales in Sydney it became clear he could not carry on.

I had decided he must go home even before he came off after being bowled by Brett Lee for eight and broke down again.

I had a migraine soon afterwards and had to lie down.

I was deliberating how I would pass the news on to Trescothick when I was told the problem was worse than first thought.

Trescothick had come in from his innings and broken down in tears.

Sadly, it ensured that the right decision had been taken, but it is one I am not happy to have got right.

I did not feel remorseful about picking him in the first place, though there was the inevitable criticism.

Bob Willis was one I recall in particular.

When the tour party had been announced he'd said we had got it spot on.

Now he was asking: "Why did they ever take Trescothick?"