The forgotten man

Solid, reliable, dependable: Marcus Trescothick © Getty Images

Try to remember something really sensational Marcus Trescothick did in last summer's Ashes series. Andrew Strauss: that catch. Simon Jones: reverse swing. Ashley Giles: that ball and those winning runs. Geraint Jones: Edgbaston. Freddie and KP: pretty well everything. So what about Tresco?

Well, his 90 on the first day at Edgbaston mocked Ricky Ponting's arrogance in putting England in to bat; but it was still Kevin Pietersen's fearless assault on Shane Warne that signalled the real counter-attack. Tresco, you see, is incapable of doing anything flashy. That is the wonderful, abiding, heart-warming strength of the man.

Even his sudden departure from the tour of India, a flit that would have had the newshounds working overtime if the flitter had been anyone other than Trescothick, was greeted with a few puzzled looks and a yawn. It was like one of those spoof headlines in Private Eye: "England cricketer goes home". So what? Tresco? Which one's he?

But then, according to those on the ground, a funny thing happened on the way back to Somerset. People missed him, not just for his runs but for his solidity, for his earthy off-drive and his slash through square cover, for his sedentary presence at slip and his yokel-like half-smile beneath his England cap. They missed him for his cricketing intelligence and for the simple fact that he was always taken for granted. And then they noticed something else, his 2005 tally of 1,323 runs at 55.12, which was bettered only by Ponting and Matthew Hayden. Strauss was the next-best England batsman with 789.

Trescothick has been England's most consistent batsman for the past three seasons. Yet his status among the Elvis impersonators remains resolutely middle of the road. He is respected, hugely, but not loved or cherished. No one has yet donned a Tresco wig or streaked his hair in honour of the batsman's brilliance. There is nothing about Trescothick to mock or send up. He would be a nightmare for a pavement caricaturist.

His cricket mirrors his personality: plain and solid. You can draw a graph of a Trescothick century - and his 106 against Sri Lanka in the opening Test was his 14th - right now by tracing a series of lines between third man and deep cover, a few more wide of extra cover and a fair number to deep wide midwicket, plus a few pushes and shoves into the gaps and the odd straight-armed punch down the ground. He will be dropped a couple of times, probably in the slip area or gully, and his technique will not alter one iota nor will his feet ever start moving like Darren Gough's.

The bat comes down in two forms, scything arc or plumb-line straight. Trescothick innings are not things of beauty nor even exhilaration; they are deeply practical and hugely effective. And they are usually not made against Australia; in fact, six of his hundreds have come against Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.

In physique and mood the most obvious parallel is with Graham Gooch. Technically the more apt analogy is David Gower minus the casual grace, of course. Yet 70 or so Tests into his career, we await the career-defi ning moment. Maybe the trick is not to look for one but merely to appreciate Trescothick as one might a trusty old sideboard. Trescothick's return to the Test side at Lord's certainly had that feel to it. Ah, there he is. I wondered what had happened to him. His century was greeted as a matter of course. Tresco has never cultivated an image, never seen the need for one. KP can take care of the marketing business. Trescothick is what he is and, in an age of MFI celebrity, that is the truest cause for celebration.