Interview - Joe Sayers: My drive to win is what will help me beat this illness

As I write this article from home, Teletext is telling me that Yorkshire are closing in on another victory within four days that throws the Championship race wide open.

A familiar mix of emotions subsequently ensues, dominated by a longing to be at the crease in full flow, and a frustration with my inability to do so.

It has been extremely difficult watching the summer's proceedings from afar, particularly having been an integral part of the Yorkshire dressing room for the first half of the season.

As we enter the final week of the domestic season, June 28 feels like a distant memory. That was the date that I reluctantly pulled myself out of the Championship match at Old Trafford after an early morning fitness test that rendered me unusually exhausted and short of breath.

The evening before the first day of that Roses encounter, I felt the onset of what seemed like a harmless cold and retired to bed early to prepare for the following day. I now recall waking with symptoms that

had worsened overnight, an early breakfast with our physiotherapist to discuss my fitness and an overriding gut feeling that I was in no shape

to take to the field.

Two hours later, disappointed to have been declared unfit to play, I left Old Trafford to attend an appointment with our club doctor, expecting instructions to head straight to bed, drink plenty of fluids and prepare myself for a return to the squad in a matter of days.

With plans to rejoin the team on their journey to Northampton four days later, I left my kit bag in the team dressing room. "See you in a couple of days," said Martyn Moxon as I left.

Almost three months later, that kit bag has remained closed to any first-class cricket in a Yorkshire shirt, and I face the foreseeable future recovering from an illness that has surprised everyone in its severity and length. After months of hospital tests and doctor's appointments, and two failed attempts to return to action on the field, I have been diagnosed with Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS), an illness I knew nothing about until recently.

In fact, I had always been sceptical about energy-based illnesses such as PVFS and its more chronic forms, dismissing them as constructs of the mind that could be remedied by a quick dose of optimism and determination. Needless to say that, after weeks suffering the effects of the illness, my opinion has changed.

Though that day at Old Trafford was the first visible sign of my illness to lookers-on, the story of my poor health began many months earlier in Pretoria, South Africa, where I was one of seven members of the England Lions squad to suffer a severe bout of food poisoning. Only a last-minute dose of antibiotics from the England doctor enabled me to board the plane home and I spent Christmas somewhat better but far from fully recovered.

Pre-season training at Headingley with the Yorkshire squad seemed to pass without serious incident, but a cloud of tiredness persisted. At this stage, I passed off my heavy legs as the aches and pains typical of pre-season training and looked forward to the coming season.

Though I did not feel in the best of health, my early-season form was good and the team's top-of-the-table standing distracted me from a growing tiredness. Having suffered a worsening of the asthma I

have had since childhood on numerous occasions, I expected to recover quickly from the onset of illness on that day at Old Trafford.

Three months on, my daily schedule is no comparison to the training schedule to which I had become accustomed. I wake each morning after at least nine hours of deep sleep feeling like I have had a sleepless night and though I must remain active in some small way, a stroll to the local shops leaves me short of breath and in need of a return to bed.

For a sportsman and former student trained in a relentless striving for success and achievement, resting and inactivity do not come easily.

To feel my fitness levels dwindle is incredibly frustrating,

but rest and recovery have replaced hill sprints and weights sessions, and I am approaching my recovery with the same application I have always applied to my training and practice.

Forever keen to turn an obstacle into opportunity, I have used my recovery time to fulfil a long-standing ambition to restart painting, years after studying art at school and Art College. An hour with a paintbrush in hand has provided welcome stimulation of mind and a project on which to focus during this difficult time.

Though I have felt detached from proceedings at Headingley, my colleagues at the club have been very supportive through the period before diagnosis and even more so since. Full days in the dressing room or watching from the stands remain too demanding at this stage, but I intend to show my support for the team at Headingley in the final week of the summer.

I feel very positive about the future. I am beginning to see signs of recovery and a gradual improvement in my energy, helped by weekly acupuncture treatments and regular appointments with a specialist in Chronic Fatigue.

My illness has denied me the opportunity to further participate in a very successful year for Yorkshire cricket, and has put on hold my progress towards the International honours I desire, but a spell away from the game has provided me with a rare opportunity to take stock and plan a running start at the rest of my playing career. I look forward to reflecting on a useful pit-stop in my life and career that gave me the energy and direction to achieve my goals and fulfil my ambitions.