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"He knew his own game, knew how to prepare and was a meticulous, organised young man"
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Apart from Duncan Fletcher and the captains who have worked
with him Marcus Trescothick has been the single biggest
influence in changing the culture of the side and making
England a team rather than group of individuals thrown together.
The two most signifi cant changes were the arrival of Fletcher in
1999 and central contracts in 2000. Apart from Michael Vaughan,
Trescothick is the one player who has been there since then. Central
contracts made people feel this was their team and, once you feel
that, you do start offering advice, which Marcus did from quite early.
Marcus is the ultimate team man; he does everything for the
team. He changed the dressing-room culture of mickey-taking which
tends to go on in any team. He felt strongly from early on that players
should not take the mickey out of each other and he often made this
point at team management meetings. I wonder if it was because, as a
chubby lad in his youth, he had been victim of a lot of it.
I had not seen much of him before he became involved in the
England set-up, at the suggestion of Fletcher who had seen him make
a big hundred for Somerset against his own county Glamorgan. He
came to a training camp in 1999 and his body language and the way
he carried himself were impressive. Others were messing around and
treating it as a bit of fun but Marcus was professional in all he did.
He did not go on the tour to South Africa that winter but came
into the side the following summer. He ticked every box straight
away. He had all the things you need to be an international cricketer:
ability, proper mind-set and preparation, willingness to make
sacrifices and teamwork. He had it all covered.
He had a bit of Alec Stewart about him. He knew his own game,
knew how to prepare and was a meticulous, organised young man.
He soaks things up very well. It took Freddie Flintoff about three
years to learn the forward press that Fletcher is so keen on against
the spinners. Marcus and Paul Collingwood get a bit of advice from
Fletcher and within two weeks they are putting it into practice.
Vaughan ticked all the boxes as well and I have never seen two
lads come in and be so ready for Test cricket despite having moderate
first-class records. The one subtle difference in the beginning was
that Vaughan was very much the Yorkshire opening batsman who
just looked after his own game. Trescothick was much more into
offering advice and making suggestions in and around the dressing
room. He would always be giving throw-downs for other players. If
one of the bowlers need to work on his batting, Marcus would take
him off for half an hour after his own net. If anyone needed a drink
or if the physio had forgotten something, Marcus was the first person
to go and get it. And he still is. These are all things that I, and the
likes of Graham Thorpe, were in all honesty very poor at.
In India it was clear he was struggling with something mentally
and physically. Although the fact that he left the tour like that was a
shock to everyone, it did not come as a surprise to me that after giving
so much to the team for five years he should need a break. That sort of
intensity catches up with you, especially after the highs of the Ashes.
This article was first published in the July issue of The Wisden Cricketer.
Click here for further details. Nasser Hussain played 96 Tests, 45 as captain, for England and now commentates
for Sky Sports