Being Tres: The evolution and excellence of Marcus Trescothick

SAM DALLING - SPECIAL REPORT: Somerset go into a county season without Trescothick for the first time in nearly 30 years. Here, former teammates and opponents explain what made the batsman so special

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some are Marcus Edward Trescothick.

Hyperbole? Probably. Over the top? Perhaps.

Step through the gates at Taunton’s cricketing HQ though and you’d be hard pressed to find a soul in disagreement.

Since 1993 the Somerset faithful have rocked up to watch the left-hander – their left-hander - take his guard against the new ball.

But all good things must come to an end, and now the gloves have been packed away for the final time.

The curtain has come down on one of the most remarkable careers the English game has ever seen.

Replace him? Unlikely.

“I’m not sure words can do justice for what Tres has done for our club,” explains Tom Abell, Trescothick’s successor as Somerset skipper.

“They are massive shoes to fill and realistically we’ll never be able to replace him.”

“Everyone at the club sees him as this amazing cricketer. He has so much knowledge and is just phenomenal, both as a person and a player”

Current head coach Jason Kerr played alongside his longtime friend in the 1990s and is similarly minded.

“He’s been hugely influential at the club over the years in lots of different ways. He’s got time for everyone at the club and he’s respected and appreciated by everyone.

“It’s not until you step outside the Somerset bubble you realise the magnitude of who is he is a cricketer. He’s inspired so many people over the years.”

****

Trescothick just loves cricket. It’s that infatuation that doubtless led to his longevity in the professional game.

It’s difficult to think of anyone who enjoyed playing more.

As his former captain and opening partner Jamie Cox says: “I remember looking a couple of years ago and he was playing the county seconds.

“How many 40-year-olds play in the county twos? That’s ridiculous. That explains him better than anything I can say.”

In a nutshell that’s it; the appetite for runs remained a constant, even when they eyes started to fail him.

“His hunger for scoring runs throughout his career never diminished. His longevity in the game was incredibly impressive,” says Peter Trego, another former teammate.

Ian Blackwell who shared both an England and Somerset dressing room with Trescothick agrees. “He loved batting and batted for as long as he could every time he played. He wasn’t afraid of batting all day. That’s what he did all through his career, right from an early age.”

And while some would be doing the rain dance at times during an arduous county season, Trescothick was never one of them.

“If it was raining, it wasn’t unfamiliar for the changing room to be a pretty happy place,” Cox explains.

“There’d be a lot of people not that upset, but he just wanted to play. That used to irate me - that blokes were happier not playing.

“But not Marcus – the unique thing about him – and I can relate to it as I was like it myself - is he just a bloke who loved playing the game. He loved playing cricket.

“He found enjoyment playing the game of cricket which really showed.”

^{Marcus Trescothick in action for Somerset in 2011}

****

Twenty six international hundreds; 40,000 plus career runs; 201 caps for his country; 618 appearances for Somerset.

The numbers are phenomenal, but that’s all they are; numbers.

They don’t tell the whole story. They don’t make the thwack of leather colliding with willow. They don’t tingle the ears as ball races across the outfield and over the boundary ropes.

There was always “that” person at school. The one that did it all: my bat, my ball.

Step forward Trescothick. And he did on the world stage, without a hint of arrogance. He opened the batting for his country. He bowled dibblers for his country. He even kept wicket for his country. Was he really all that?

“He’s one of the best players to have ever pulled on an England shirt,” says Kerr.

“At the height of his powers, wow, he was incredible,” says former England teammate Gareth Batty and longtime opponent on the domestic scene.

“He’s probably one of the best one or two modern players – he really was that good.”

Monty Panesar, another former England teammate, describes him as the “left-handed version of Graham Gooch”.

“He should have been up there with Alastair Cook and in the top 10 of all-time Test run-scorers. That was his level.”

“He was phenomenal,” adds Blackwell. “Nothing fazed him. Everybody looked up to him. A class act to have in the side.”

****

Common amongst the great and good of modern batting is the signature shot.

Tendulkar had the straight drive, Ponting the pull and Pietersen the switch-hit.

Trescothick is known for a few. At the crease he was imposing. A giant of a man. Stand tall. Bring it on.

That trademark lack of footwork, bat and feet so far apart they could credibly claim to have led the social distancing revolution.

As Steve Kirby – a man who enjoyed many a battle with the man they called Banger, before joining him at Somerset – says: “It looked like no feet but his head was over the ball; bang.”

Feed him width. Crash through the off-side. Classic Tres.

Tighten up? No problem, dab to third man. Classic Tres.

Bring on the spinner. Down on one knee and sweep.

Laughing, Batty recalls a net session during England’s tour of South Africa in 2004.

“He said: 'Look Batts, I’m going to sweep every ball here'.

“In my head I’m thinking: 'No chance mate - I’m going to bowl bouncers, quicker balls etc'.

“But he did it, he swept every single ball. I must have bowled 30 at him and he swept everything.”

Panesar tells a similar tale.

“I’ve never seen anyone who can sweep a ball from all different angles.

“We’d finish off and he’d have a little laugh at me and I’m thinking: 'You don’t even know how good you are.'

And as Blackwell recalls it, there was no length the top-order man was afraid to sweep from. Like really, no length.

“It was the bane of my life whether in the nets or playing against him.

“It’s not the fact he’s got one sweep shot – he had 7 or 8. He could hit you from wide outside off-stump to over long-on and all the way around to the paddle sweep to 45.

“You’d bowl a fast bouncer and he’d still get down on one knee and paddle it around the corner off his nose – that was just the talent of the guy.”

^{Trescothick in England action at Lord's}

****

It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t all plain sailing for Trescothick.

The tale of how he put on a show in front of an on-looking Duncan Fletcher against Glamorgan is old ground.

For the record, the left-hander raced to 167 in the second innings against an attack including Jacque Kallis.

That knock earned him a spot on the England A tours of Bangladesh and New Zealand and the rest, as they say, is history. But before that, it hadn’t all gone his way.

Having burst onto the scene in 1994 with 924 first-class runs at a shade under 50, he struggled for consistency over the next five years.

Prolific for the England Under-19s – to this day only John Crawley has racked up more runs – scores in county cricket proved harder to come by.

So much so that when handed his England debut in July 2000 – an ODI against Zimbabwe in which he notched up an impressive 79 – Trescothick’s first-class average was a modest 29.5.

And Cox, who had arrived in the West Country ahead of the 1999 season, gives a simple explanation for his opening partner’s modest early returns.

“When I first arrived he just wasn’t a pro, it was that simple.

“He loved cricket and he loved batting but he didn’t work hard enough. The great thing that happened to Marcus was that the penny dropped really quickly.

“Once he got noticed by the national setup – Duncan Fletcher is famously the one they speak about – he picked up really quickly.

“He thought: 'I want this, I can succeed at this,' and we saw a different person. He started to work hard and look after his diet and turn into a pro. He became a serious player.” So serious in fact that he was frustrated by Cox’s refusal to engage in the now common fist pump.

“One thing I did upset him with – he loved shazzaming gloves, you know how batsmen love touching gloves between overs.

“That used to drive me insane and would never let him go anywhere near my gloves. That’s a modern thing now but was popular among some of the poms.

“I used to try and keep him in the moment, let him see the fun in it.”

****

As well as skippering his country on a dozen or so occasions, Trescothick spent seven seasons leading the Somerset side between 2010 and 2016.

Under his stewardship, the West Country outfit were always there or thereabouts.

Painfully, they couldn’t quite get over the line and one suspects that if there are any regrets, not securing that elusive maiden County Championship crown for Somerset – his club – would be up there.

But competing on all three fronts is no mean feat, and rather than ranting and raving Trescothick preferred to lead from the front.

“You won’t find a guy that leads by example more than him,” former teammate Nick Compton tells The Cricketer.

“He’s not a man of many words or someone I would spend hours talking to about technique, but he’s someone that I think was hard not to follow but because of his insatiable appetite for the game.

“He had such calmness as a person and had had a big impact without always realizing it.

“I wouldn’t have had a philosophical chat with Marcus but what meant the most to me was gaining his respect.”

****

Trescothick will always be remembered for the 2005 Ashes series.

A generation of youngsters will have grown up wanting to emulate his swashbuckling approach at the start of innings.

That, of course, is impossible. He is unique.

The next best thing? Open the batting with him. Every Taunton lad’s dream.

“When I came into the side I was opening with him,” says Abell.

“As a young player there is no better person you could wish to learn from – I’m so incredibly fortunate to have played alongside him.

“He’s one of the hardest trainers there is and he is so willing to give you his time, throwing you balls and chatting about batting.

“I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

And that aura extended further afield, with young pros across the land trying to emulate their hero.

Take Middlesex’s Nick Gubbins, for example.

“He was one of my heroes. I bought the GM Maxi to try and replicate Marcus,” he says. “One of the highlights of my career so far is playing against him.

“I was standing there in awe of him. I couldn’t believe I was on the same field as him.

“That quickly wore off when he gave me a send-off for not walking. That brought me down to earth!”

****

^{Trescothick has been helping the current England batsmen}

Trescothick’s personal battles are well documented, and he speaks openly and eloquently on the topic.

Without them he’d undoubtedly have enjoyed a record-breaking career in an England shirt.

Cook and Andrew Strauss have scored more runs, but when push comes to shove many would pick an on-song Trescothick to pay to watch.

“I always think of him as someone who should have played about 125 to 150 Test matches,” says Panesar.

“When I got into the team he was unbelievable, something else. And he was dismissive of just how good he was.”

Cox adds: “I always hark back to that record – it still does take you by surprise to think he made 27 or 28 international centuries in what feels like it was only a moment in the game.

“Imagine what it could have been. Probably a lot of people have written that article but it’s more important to look at what was.

“He was such a simple beautifully balanced player, when he was on it was just good fun to be a part of. He was bloody good.”

Imagine turning up as an opening bowler knowing Trescothick would face up to the first ball. He struck fear into the hearts of the opposition.

Bowlers across the county must have lost countless nights knowing what was to come. Blink and the game could be gone before you even have the chance to settle.

“He is the best opener I’ve bowled at,” says former Gloucestershire and England seamer Jon Lewis, who first came across his old adversary at under-11 level, although Trescothick was playing up an age group.

“You just knew if you got him out you’d have a huge influence on the result. It was a crucial battle and I always wanted to bowl at him.”

Kirby tells a similar tale, recalling a time where Trescothick’s ability to pick his slower ball left him confused and angry.

“He was formidable. One of – if not the most – devastating batsmen I’ve ever bowled at.

“We played a 50-over game at Taunton and they’d done their homework. I had a signal where I’d scratch my wotsits if I was going to bowl a slower ball.

“I’m at the end of my mark, given the signal and the keeper has come up five yards. The next thing I know he has hit me to all parts, even over the Ian Botham stand.

“He goes on to make 130 or 140. About 100 of them were off me. I just didn’t understand how he was picking the slower ball. I was so annoyed.”

But revenge is a dish best served cold and Kirby revels in telling the tale.

“I found out that they’d worked it out so when they came to Bristol I thought 'I’m going to get you'.

“I’m at the end of my scratching away trying to prove it was a slower ball.

“He charged me and I’ve got for the quick yorker.

“I've knocked him over and given him the biggest send-off you’ve ever seen. It was on the telly. He didn’t speak to me for months after that!”

****

Somerset fans can take solace in the fact that Trescothick will remain a familiar face at the Cooper Associates County Ground.

Having made the conscious decision to wind down his white ball career a few years back, the 44-year-old has been honing his skills as a batting coach, and following his retirement he formally stepped up to be Kerr’s assistant.

Unsurprisingly, his efforts are already being noticed by England, who drafted him to lend a hand during the ODI series against Ireland.

Given his prowess as a player, it would be easy for Trescothick to assume that he knows it all already, but that doesn’t fit the character of the man.

“What’s really impressive is his hunger to learn,” says Kerr.

“For someone who has an outstanding playing record, it would be very easy to have a touch of arrogance and think he’s got all the answers from a coaching point of view.

“There’s none of that. He asks questions of all our coaching staff. He’s happy to dig in and do the hard work. It’s really exciting to see that unfold now. I’ve got no doubt he’s going to be an outstanding coach.”

And Kirby believes his former teammate's experiences with mental health will stand him in good stead.

“He’s got great experiences and great empathy around people,” he says. “Tres will be on high alert around people struggling mentally.

“One of the big things I’m really happy he has done is broken the stigma around mental health and sport.

“He was one of the first to come out and say “It’s good to talk.”

“He doesn’t get the credit he deserves there.

“It isn’t something in professional sport you ever come out and say, but he’s been able to break that stigma down and make it ok to speak. It’s something he’s been really proud of.”

And Tres, one more thing; thank you.

For unrivalled coverage of the county season, subscribe to The Cricketer and receive four issues for £15