Marcus Trescothick

Marcus Trescothick

Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE (/trɛsˈkɒθɪk/; born 25 December 1975 in Keynsham, Somerset) is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. 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 (ODI) 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. As an aggressive opener, he holds the record 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 the process of rebuilding his career with Somerset in 2007, and scored two double-centuries that season. However, he continued to remain uneasy about returning to international cricket, and announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2008, opting to continue playing at county level for Somerset. Since then, media speculation has continued as to a possible international return – however, Trescothick has repeatedly voiced his intent to remain in retirement, and has suffered recurrences of his condition in both 2008 and 2009 when Somerset toured abroad.