ADELAIDE (AFP) - England captain Alastair Cook said today it was important to give Jonathan Trott time and space to recover from a stress illness that had forced him out of the Ashes series in Australia.

He left the tour after he twice fell cheaply to Mitchell Johnson in England's heavy 381-run loss to Australia in the first Test in Brisbane.

His display was blasted as "poor and weak" by Australian batsman David Warner, in comments that drew censure from Cook and England head coach Andy Flower.

Trott has been granted indefinite leave by the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cook said his troubles had given his team-mates a dose of reality.

"It is important to have a sense of reality, seeing what Trotty has gone through has given people a bit of that," he told reporters ahead of the second Test in Adelaide tomorrow.

"It was a tough defeat in Brisbane but someone else was having it a lot worse than what we were having. Trotty understands and we all understand that he has got a long journey back and we wish him all the luck in the world.

"It's horrible seeing what he's gone through, obviously in the last two to three weeks on this tour, and then throughout his career he has struggled at certain times and I think he's showed a huge amount of character to perform as he has done for England."

The England captain said it would be difficult to fill Trott's batting position at number three for the rest of the series.