England coach Andy Flower has revealed that batsman Jonathan Trott has been "struggling" with a stress-related illness for some time.

As a result, the 32-year-old has left the England squad for the remainder of the Ashes series in Australia.

It has been suggested that Aussie batsman David Warner's comments that Trott's performance at the crease in the first Test was 'poor and weak' may have had some bearing on Trott's decision to leave.

According to BBC Sport, when asked about this, Flower said: "That would be inaccurate. Jonathan has been struggling with this condition for quite a while.

"We have been on tour for about a month and he has had his ups and downs through that month and it is not directly related to that. I would also say players commenting to fellow professionals in the media is disrespectful and I think on this occasion he has got that horribly wrong.

"We set different standards to that and one of the reasons we don't like commenting is because we don't know what is going on in their dressing room, in their private lives."

The decision came after Australia secured the first Test by beating England by 381 runs.