Former England hero Marcus Trescothick to retire from cricket aged 43…

An era has come to the end after it emerged that Marcus Trescothick, who first played for Somerset in 1993, will retire in September.

Trescothick, who at 43 is the oldest active first-class cricketer in England, said: ‘It’s been an incredible 27 years, and I’ve loved every minute of it.’ Typically, he announced his intention of regaining the first-team place he lost earlier this summer, with Somerset chasing a maiden county championship title.

Even if he doesn’t add to his tally of 26,234 first-class runs – 5,825 of them in 76 Tests as an entertaining left-handed opener – Trescothick will go down as a club legend, and one of the most popular players to represent his country. A stand at Taunton is already named after him.

 

Of the team that won the 2005 Ashes, only he and Ian Bell are still playing first-class cricket. And while the accolades for that triumph generally go to Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and the fast bowlers, England’s then coach Duncan Fletcher described Trescothick as the team’s ‘unsung hero’.

The 90 he made on the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston, with England 1-0 down and the country fearing the worst, set the tone for a fightback that culminated in the first defeat of Australia in two decades. Trescothick finished the series with 431 runs, second only to Pietersen.

Across the formats, Trescothick scored over 10,000 runs for England, with 26 centuries. 





MailOnline