? 'We are fully behind Yardy,' the England captain says
? Jimmy Anderson could return to the starting line-up
Andrew Strauss says he was aware Michael Yardy was struggling with depression for some time before his decision to leave the World Cup squad to return to England but the England captain admitted that he did not learn that Yardy's problems had become too much to bear on tour until Wednesday evening.
"It's desperately disappointing for him and for us as a squad not to have him here any more," Strauss said. "It's a horrible thing for him to have to go through. I found out about it late the night before he went home.
"It's something he's been managing for a while, and there have been networks in place to help him do that. But over the last week or so, it's got too much for him.
"We are fully behind him. We've had some previous experience of this with Marcus Trescothick ? so we all know a lot more about it now and also that there are ways of managing it."
Yardy became the fourth England player to start the World Cup but fail to finish it, but Strauss is confident his team will be able to concentrate fully on Saturday's quarter-final against Sri Lanka despite the unsettling nature of the build-up. "It's not difficult for us to focus our minds on this game of cricket. It is a massive game," he said. "If we lose we're on the plane home; if we win we're in the semi-finals."
Jimmy Anderson could return to the side as England seek to exploit steamy humidity that can encourage swing Strauss said Anderson would enjoy the humid conditions. "We know what a quality bowler he is," he said. "And to a certain extent it is more likely to swing here with the humidity than some of the other places in India."
Anderson was dropped for England's final group stage game against the West Indies after taking four for 282 in five previous World Cup qualifiers. He has looked exhausted after leading the England pace attack through the Ashes and a one-day series in Australia.
There are doubts about Tim Bresnan, who had a scan this week on an injury to his right calf. He has taken nine wickets in the tournament so far. "He will probably have a bowl and a fitness test today," Strauss said. "At this stage we are quite confident he will be fit."
Muttiah Muralitharan looks set to play for Sri Lanka having recovered from a hamstring problem. "Murali is fine to play," the Sri Lanka captain, Kumar Sangakkara, said. "He's 100% okay, which is great news."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/mar/25/andrew-strauss-michael-yardy
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