In a final and desperate attempt to successfully deal with his stress related illness, Marcus Trescothick may well have taken the first step towards his cricketing retirement as he pulled out of yet another tour abroad: with the same condition that ended his international career.
The Somerset man has been forced to pull out of his counties Twenty20 Champions League campaign with a recurrence of the stress related illness that forced him to retire from international cricket in March last year.
This is the third occasion the illness has forced him to leave a tour, something that first occurred back in 2006 during England’s tour of India.
To say the illness has hindered Trescothick’s cricket career would be a huge understatement, and his loss to his country was summed up by the frenzied speculation surrounding his possible return for the fifth Ashes test at The Oval.
It was a return that Trescothick refused to entertain and he continued to turn out match-winning performances for his team as he was named county cricket’s player of the year and the most valuable player of the year last season.
This latest setback however could well extinguish any possibility of a return to the national team and finally set the wheels in motion for his career to end.
With Twenty20 cricket becoming more predominant and the first class game diminishing in stature, the opportunities for matches to take place this side of the equator are going to be limited as years go on.
Along with that, the added responsibility of being named captain of the Taunton outfit as well as the time needed to fully get over this latest setback means it could be a long winter for the former England opener.
Trescothick is clearly committed to trying to battle against this crippling illness though, on two further occasions he attempted to make a previous tours before eventually not making the trip and extended periods on the sidelines receiving treatment meant he missed months of action for his county.
If the batsman’s career was ended by this horrific illness then a real talent would be lost from domestic cricket, as his form has blossomed since his personal exile from the international arena, but you can’t help but think it will eventually be his downfall.
Can the star really be expected to return from this third bout of illness and revive the sort of blistering form we saw him produce last season? He’s under enough pressure as it is.
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