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England opener Marcus Trescothick has ended weeks of speculation by telling Sky Sports News that he returned home from the tour of India because he had been laid low by a viral infection.

He did not give any more specifics about the illness, but said that personal factors and spending time away from his family had also been partially responsible for his decision.

“The main reason was that I picked up a bug when I was out there,” Trescothick told the news channel. “The second part of Bombay really hit me hard; I wasn’t sleeping and couldn’t shake it off. We moved to Baroda, and it didn’t get any better; I wasn’t eating or drinking, and it really took its toll.”

At the time all that the England camp would say was that he had left the tour for personal reasons and it asked the media to respect his privacy, which it has done.

Trescothick admitted that the endless toll of touring and playing had taken its toll. “We play so much; we spend 300 nights a year out of our own house either travelling the world or at hotels preparing for games in England. Touring Pakistan and India are probably the hardest you can do, because it is not easy to take your family away to that part of the world. You spend a long time away from home.”

Last week it was revealed that Trescothick was back training with Somerset, although he admitted that he was still suffering from the virus until about three weeks ago.

Source: Cricinfo.com