How's Marcus?

Over a month ago I queried whether Marcus Trescothick's rehabilitation at Somerset was working. Today as I inexplicably found my radio tuned to Prime Minister's Question Time rather than the One-day international at Edgbaston, my thoughts wandered from Gordon Brown, to the brave West Countryman who used to open the England batting with flair and aplomb. His start to the season wasn't sparkling, but hard work and his innate talent seem to be paying dividends now. He sits fourth in the Somerset batting table behind only Hildreth, White and Langer with a very healthy average of 61.91 in First-class matches. After 4 matches, although Somerset are languishing at the bottom of the Midlands/West/Wales Division in the Twenty20 Cup, Marcus tops the batting with an average of 34.50.

In a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday he was honest about his feelings for the England team and how much he wants to be part of it again. He said he'd been watching every Test match thinking: "God, I miss this, I miss this a lot." Heartfelt words.

He has no illusions - knows he has to earn the whites, or the pyjamas again, but with doubts about the abilities of England's current openers, I hope the selectors are keeping a close eye on a man who was brave enough to be open about his stress-related problems. If England win today, perhaps Marcus could test his recovery with an appearance on the 7th July at Nottingham.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]