Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
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Interesting story on the Sportinglife.com website today - it would appear his illness isn't as life-threatening as first thought:
TRESCOTHICK MAY LISTEN TO ENGLAND
By Richard Gibson, Press Association Sport
Marcus Trescothick has left the door ajar as England contemplate how to bolster their brittle batting for the Ashes decider at the Brit Oval next week.
Trescothick, 33, appeared to have shut it permanently when he retired from international cricket in March 2008 after struggling with a stress-related illness.
But if England were to come knocking in their search for stability and quality at the top of the order, for what amounts to a cup final against Australia next week, the Somerset left-hander hinted it could be opened as a one-off.
England coach Andy Flower was keen for the dust to settle on the Headingley humiliation before assessing selection for the fifth npower Test, but the batting unit is under scrutiny after a return of just one hundred in four Tests.
It has led to Trescothick, who has amassed 1330 first-class runs at 78.23 this summer, being touted as a possible 'supersub' - alongside Surrey's evergreen Mark Ramprakash - while Jonathan Trott and Robert Key are other names in the frame if changes are made.
Even Somerset chief executive Richard Gould has pushed for Trescothick to be recalled.
"I'm retired. I'm done," said Trescothick today, as his initial reaction to thoughts of a comeback.
"No one has spoken to me or said anything to me on the issue."
However, England captain Andrew Strauss felt it worthwhile to ask his former international opening partner to make himself available for the World Twenty20 tournament with a personal plea earlier this year.
That approach was turned down, but the lure of an Ashes battle tantalisingly locked at 1-1 could be a different proposition.
"If I was asked, I don't know," said Trescothick.
"If they threw questions at me, I would listen. But until they do I can't answer.
"I am just carrying on what I am doing at Somerset, carrying on playing. Anything else is so hypothetical at the moment.
"It's always nice to be thought of - of course it is. But people are talking about it more than I am thinking about it."
Trescothick did return to the England fold after quitting the 2006 tour of India with his stress-related condition but aborted the 2006-07 Ashes campaign following a relapse.
As revealed in his award-winning autobiography Coming Back To Me, being away from his family has been a long-standing problem - and that would rule him out of playing abroad again.
However, England have sounded him out regarding a comeback more than once since his last appearance - most recently this April when Strauss was rebuffed.
"After taking everything into consideration, I reluctantly had to tell Strauss that playing for England again was just not possible," Trescothick said then.
"I had no choice but to say no.
"I might be wrong, but I still believe that if it was as simple as turning up and batting for England I could do it and succeed.
"Playing cricket for England was the great ambition of my life - and until I became ill, I loved everything about it. So not being able to do so now is a source of great regret.
"I miss the buzz and the stage and the chance to put my ability to the sternest test, and I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about it often."
Selecting players on an ad hoc basis is not a policy England have entertained in the modern era. But with Ravi Bopara in particular under pressure, there are plenty of reasons to ask again.
Trescothick, the country's leading run-scorer this summer, has experience of defeating Australia in 2005 and has an average of 62 in seven Tests at the Oval.
That return of 687 runs includes a double-hundred in a winning cause and must-win match against South Africa in 2003.
His 76th and last Test was also in south London - the forfeited affair with Pakistan three years ago.
Since then, despite there being no obvious goals to aim at in cricket's pyramid, Trescothick has maintained a prolific output as a county batsman.
"It's hard work with the demand it puts on you and the amount of games you play. But the season has gone well for me, and I'm enjoying it," he said.
"I still have a great deal to prove to myself and targets I want to achieve."