Stand and deliver

"It is much harder to pick apart a technique which is basically instinctive, like Trescothick's, when things go wrong" © Getty Images

Few players strike the ball as well as Marcus Trescothick. Only Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, of current England players, strike it better. His technique bears some similarity to mine in terms of economy of movement. It relies on balance. People like to dream that batsmen move a long way forward and long way back but that is not reality.

He does not need to move a long way but needs to move enough. Against quicker bowling you cannot move too early or you get in the wrong position. When he is playing well, he gets his weight going in the right direction without having to move his feet very far; he is very good at transferring weight. When he is not playing well, his feet get stuck. The only time he has really struggled was in Australia four years ago when they bowled very aggressively to him.

It is much harder to pick apart a technique which is basically instinctive, like Trescothick's, when things go wrong. You have to go right back to basics. It is much easier to pick apart a manufactured technique and work out what is wrong.

He is one of England's best players of spin. He has the forward press and watches the ball well. The key to playing spin is that you have to have a shot to play. He judges line and length very well. Once you are picking the signs from the bowler you get into position quickly and can play shots against them.

He is stronger at the start of a series than at the end and struggles to sustain his level of performance over a long period of time. I can empathise with that. It can get a bit much at times as we saw in India. Paradoxically, though, I reckon he has become stronger since coming back from India.