Trescothick confirms Champions League trip

Marcus Trescothick will fly to India next month as part of Somerset's squad for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, after appearing to have overcome his concerns about overseas travel that brought a premature end to his international career.

Trescothick was today named in Somerset's 15-man squad for the competition that gets underway on October 8, and he could even become the county's next captain, after Justin Langer revealed on Test Match Special on Sunday that he is unlikely to be returning to Taunton next season.

A Somerset press release confirmed that "ways are [being] sought to enable the former England opener to overcome the problems with travelling abroad to play cricket he has experienced as a result of his stress-related illness." According to a report in The Times, this could involve combining the trip around a family holiday, with the player commuting in and out of the UAE.

Last month, Trescothick declared that he did not want to be chosen for a one-off appearance for England in the Ashes decider at The Oval, having not played international cricket for three seasons following a high-profile battle with depression. His last overseas cricket tour was the 2006-07 Ashes, from which he flew home without playing a Test after breaking down during a warm-up match against New South Wales.

In April 2008 Trescothick pulled out of Somerset's pre-season tour to Dubai after the squad had already checked their bags in at Heathrow airport, and described in his 2008 autobiography, Coming Back to Me, how he had been "hunched up, sobbing, distraught" at the prospect of boarding the plane.

"I was in no physical, mental or earthly state to take it," he wrote, having just said farewell to his family. "Until the eve of our departure, I never seriously thought I would have a problem."

Langer said there were no guarantees that Trescothick would be making the trip to India. "I'm hopeful he will, we have it in place that he will be playing, but only time will tell," Langer told Sky Sports. "It's a big step for him. Hopefully he's feeling well enough in himself and the measures are in place for him to belt the other teams around the park. Hopefully it works out because he is a fantastic player. It was breathtaking to watch him bat this year. But his health is more important than cricket."

Trescothick is continuing to receive treatment for his condition, but with a £3.6 million prize at stake in the 16-day competition, Somerset are understandably keen to do all they can to make sure he is fit to take on the likes of Deccan Chargers and Trinidad & Tobago, the sides against whom Somerset have been drawn in the initial stages of the competition.