Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Edward Trescothick is an English former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. He was Somerset captain from 2010 to 2016 and temporary England captain for several Tests and ODIs. Since retirement he has commentated and coached at both county and international level.
A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established himself as a regular member of the team. Trescothick made his One Day International debut seven years later, against Zimbabwe in July 2000. His Test debut, against the West Indies, followed in August. Although former England captain Nasser Hussain likened Trescothick's build and batting temperament to that of Graham Gooch, his stroke play is more reminiscent of David Gower.
An aggressive opener, he once held the record for the most ODI centuries of any English player, and for the fastest half-century in English Twenty20 cricket. Trescothick is also an accomplished slip fielder and occasional right-handed medium pace bowler who has kept wicket for England in five ODIs, and deputised as England captain for two Test matches and ten ODIs.
Trescothick was an automatic choice for England between 2000 and 2006, before a stress-related illness threatened his career and forced him to pull out of the national squad. He began rebuilding his career with Somerset in 2007 and scored two double-centuries that season. However, he remained uneasy about returning to international cricket, and announced his retirement from internationals in March 2008, opting to continue playing at county level for Somerset. Media speculation continued as to a possible international return, Trescothick repeatedly voiced his intent to remain in retirement, and has suffered recurrences of his condition in both 2008 and 2009 when Somerset toured abroad. He nevertheless continued to play for Somerset while also working as a commentator and analyst for Sky Sports in the off-season. He finally retired in 2019 holding several Somerset batting records. He is currently the lead batting coach for the England Test team.
Early years
Marcus Edward Trescothick was born on 25 December 1975 in Keynsham, Somerset. He was the younger of two children born to Martyn and Linda Trescothick; his sister, Anna, is three years older than him. His father was a good amateur cricketer, and had played two matches for Somerset County Cricket Club's second team and appeared for Bristol and District Cricket Association between 1967 and 1976, before becoming a stalwart at Keynsham Cricket Club, where his mother made the club teas. Trescothick was immersed into cricket from an early age; the notice announcing his birth in the local newspaper had a quote from his father saying "he will have every encouragement to become a cricketer when he grows up", and he received his first cricket bat when he was eleven months old.During his time at St Anne's primary school, he was chosen to play for the Avon School under-11 cricket team. He scored the first century for Avon, striking 124 against Devon, and a couple of weeks later remained not out on 183 when the coach declared the innings closed, claiming "if I let him get a double-hundred at his age, what else would he have to aim for?" That score created some interest in the local media, and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club invited him to play for their under-11 team. In his second match for the county, he scored a century against Somerset, who then discovered that Trescothick, living in Keynsham, was qualified to play for them, and he switched from Gloucestershire to Somerset, proud to play for his father's old county.
His education continued at the Sir Bernard Lovell School in Oldland Common near Bristol, and by the age of 14 he was playing alongside his father for Keynsham in the Western League. Around the same time, he was selected to play for the England under-14s alongside future international team-mates Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood. In his autobiography, Coming Back to Me, Trescothick recalls that he was bigger than most of the other boys his age, which gave him a strength advantage, enabling him to hit the ball harder and further than others. At the same time, concerns were raised about his "portly" figure, with suggestions that he would need to work on his fitness. The following season, aged 15, Trescothick scored 4,000 runs between all the different teams he was representing, which by this time included the Somerset under-19s. He was named as the "outstanding young cricketer of the year" by The Cricketer. He was nicknamed Tresco and Banger, the latter deriving from his diet as a young player:
My diet was sausages then, in no particular order, sausages, chips, sausages, toast, sausages, beans, sausages, cheese, sausages, eggs, and the occasional sausage.
Early domestic career
Trescothick's first full season at Somerset in 1994 was one of his best, where he scored a total of 925 runs, including two centuries and eight half-centuries at an impressive batting average of 48.63. Having played for the English U-19 cricket team against the West Indies in 1993, and Sri Lanka and India in 1994, Trescothick was named captain for the two Under-19 series against West Indies and South Africa in 1995. His career aggregate of 1,032 runs for England U-19 is second only to John Crawley's 1,058.File:Marcus Trescothick 2007.JPG|thumb|left|Trescothick warms up at Taunton for Somerset, in June 2007
Trescothick was not as successful in domestic cricket in 1995, although there were still some highlights including an innings of 151 against Northamptonshire, and a hat-trick, including the wicket of century-maker Adam Gilchrist, for Somerset against Young Australia. Trescothick's England Under-19 form was still excellent, averaging 74.62 with the bat in six matches. His Under-19 team mates would often mock him for wearing an England blazer after his matches; Trescothick would reply by saying that "it might be the closest I get to playing for England".
The following five years were mixed for Trescothick. Averaging about 30 runs per innings, he was often criticised for a lack of foot movement. David Gower described Trescothick's technique by saying "he does not need to move a long way but needs to move enough. When he is playing well... he is very good at transferring weight. When he is not playing well, his feet get stuck". However, Trescothick was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award for Somerset's most promising young county player in the 1996 and 1997 seasons. In 1997, Somerset Second XI were set 612 to win by Warwickshire Second XI, and Trescothick scored 322 to bring the Seconds to 605.
In 1999, Trescothick impressed Glamorgan coach Duncan Fletcher in a county match at Taunton, by scoring 167 in a low-scoring match where the next-highest innings was 50. When England opening batsman Nick Knight sustained a finger injury in 2000, Fletcher, who had been appointed England coach, called on Trescothick to make his England debut in the NatWest Series against Zimbabwe and the West Indies. Trescothick's regular selection for England meant that he was rarely available for domestic selection between 2000 and 2006, often playing only a few matches for Somerset at the start of the season.
International career
Debut and centuries on maiden tour
Trescothick participated in two England A tours during the winter of 1999, but his full One Day International debut came against Zimbabwe at The Oval on 9 July 2000, when he scored 79. He continued his good form in the tournament with a Man of the Match-winning 87 not out against the West Indies at Chester-le-street, amassing 288 runs at an average of 48.00 and taking two wickets against Zimbabwe at Old Trafford.As a result of his good form in the NatWest series, Trescothick was given his Test match debut later that summer in the third Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford. He displayed a calm temperament when England lost early wickets, scoring 66 and forming a partnership of 179 with Alec Stewart. Journalist Thrasy Petropoulos observed that there was "poise and durability...just as there had been enterprise and verve to his impressive start in the one-day arena." He ended the Test series with an average of 47.50.
England began the 2000–2001 winter tour with the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy at Nairobi Gymkhana Club. Trescothick did not score highly in the tournament, and England were knocked out at the quarter-final stage against South Africa. Trescothick was named the Professional Cricketers' Association Player of the Year for his performances for Somerset throughout 2000.
Trescothick's maiden international century came against the Sindh Governor's XI in October 2000, during the first warm-up match to the Pakistan series. Trescothick reached his highest score of the three Test matches in the opening innings of the first Test. He took his sole Test wicket in the third Test, when Ashley Giles caught the Pakistan opener Imran Nazir.
Trescothick started the Sri Lanka tour with a century against a Sri Lanka 'Colts XI'. He was the top scorer in both innings of the first Test with 122 and 57, although this was overshadowed by Marvan Atapattu's 201 not out in Sri Lanka's innings. Trescothick averaged 41.33 in the Test series, but only 16.00 in the three subsequent ODIs.
England played two Test matches against Pakistan in June 2001. Although Trescothick scored 117 in the second Test, it was not enough for England to win the match. His ODI form improved at the start of the 2001 NatWest Series against Australia and Pakistan, with scores of 69 and 137 respectively. However, his series ended with two consecutive ducks, and England lost all their matches in the tournament.
England's leading batsman, 2001–02
Although Trescothick was England's second highest run scorer in the 2001 Ashes series, he displayed a tendency to give his wicket away when "well set". England lost the series 4–1, with the majority of the England batsmen's contributions being overshadowed by Mark Butcher's 173 not out to win the fourth Test. Trescothick's apparent inability to make major scores was again apparent in the 2001–02 One Day International series in Zimbabwe, where he only passed 50 on one occasion despite scoring consistently. He also captained the side for the first time in this series, deputising for the injured Nasser Hussain.Trescothick really came into his own on the winter tour of India in 2001. The three-Test series saw him averaging 48.00, with a highest score of 99. He was England's best batsman in the ODI series, averaging 53.00 with a strike rate of over 100. He scored a century in the first ODI, although England lost by 22 runs. He established a reputation for keeping his composure while the rest of the team were failing; at this point, none of Trescothick's four international centuries had resulted in an England win. He was also man-of-the-match in the final ODI, setting up an England victory, with 95 runs from 80 balls. This tour established Trescothick's reputation as one of England's best batsmen against spin bowling: according to David Gower, he was "judging line and length very well". Indian Cricket named him one of their five Cricketers of the Year for 2002. The following tour of New Zealand was less successful for Trescothick, only once reaching double figures in a poor ODI series, coupled with an average Test match performance.
Trescothick had been playing well in 2002, scoring 161 in the Sri Lankan series and being awarded the Player of the Series in the tri-nation NatWest Series, until his season was cut short when he fractured his thumb while fielding. He returned for the fourth Test against India, scoring two half-centuries. Trescothick had mixed fortunes in the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy; he followed his century in the NatWest final with a man-of-the-match winning 119 against Zimbabwe, but failed to score as England lost to India and exited the tournament.
In October, Trescothick was one of 11 players awarded "central contracts" by the ECB, which compensate a player's county for their lack of domestic appearances.
Trescothick was overshadowed by Michael Vaughan during the 2002–03 Ashes series, averaging only 26.10 with a top score of 72 in comparison to Vaughan's average of 63.30 and three centuries. Trescothick averaged 31.60 across 10 matches in the VB Series, but England were outplayed by Australia throughout the tour. Trescothick failed to excel in the 2003 World Cup as England failed to qualify for the knock-out stages. In his five matches, Trescothick's top score was 58 against Namibia, with a tournament average of 23.20.