Nasser Hussain says he is shocked by the news that James Taylor has been forced to retire due to a serious heart condition.
The Nottinghamshire batsman, 26, had established himself as a member of England's ODI side in the last 12 months and was close to establishing himself in the Test team, having played his part as Alastair Cook's men triumphed in their winter tour of South Africa.
That came almost four years after his two previous Test appearances, also against the Proteas, on their 2012 tour, but has now seen a promising international career cut short.
"First of all, it was a bit of a shock," said Hussain. "He was a fantastic cricketer, a top guy, he works so hard and he could've become a fantastic England player in the future.
"What's so sad about it is that he was getting to exactly where he wanted to be after working hard for the last four or five years when he's been out of the side. He's worked so hard and had to prove people wrong to get back into the side.
"And now he's got back into the side, he's been hit by the hardest of blows really and his dream of playing cricket for England has come to an abrupt end.
"It's sad news, the boy worked really hard to get where he is now and you'd think he'd have years of international cricket ahead of him and the one thing that he has always loved, playing cricket, has been taken away from him.
"The most important thing, always in these situations, is his health and making sure he gets that right."
Hussain is confident that Taylor will receive the best of care following his retirement, but that will be scant consolation for the former Leicestershire player as he has to walk away from the game just as he was entering his prime.
"At the moment they just have to make sure they get him right physically, he's going to have this operation," added Hussain. "The Professional Cricketers' Association are absolutely brilliant, I have to say.
"And Nottinghamshire are a very well run club who look after their players, he won't just be cast into the wilderness. He will be looked after by that club and the PCA have so many systems in place to look after present players, past players, future players and he will get the best after-care and life after cricket.
"Unfortunately for James, right now, all he wants is a life in cricket. That's what he's done as a young lad and he's 26, this is when he is right at the peak of his powers and he will have been looking forward to a series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan this summer.
"Whatever is put in place, it won't, in any way, alleviate his pain of not playing cricket again."