Marcus Trescothick flies home due to stress recurrance
Well, although it's good news from an Australian cricket point of view, I must confess a twinge of guilt over my earlier stress-related joke as Marcus Trescothick has flown home due to a recurrance of his stress related illness. Trescothick must've been in a delicate state as all it took was a Prime Minister's XI match and a warm-up match against NSW to tip him over the edge. So what does this mean for the Ashes? If the series is another tightly fought contest, it could once again be injuries (be they physical or mental) that prove the difference so from that point of view, it's a sore blow for England. Trescothick was one of their better batsmen last year - the turning point of the series was when he tonked our bowlers around on Day 1 at Edbaston. You'd have to imagine it would also be a blow to morale, especially the manner of his leaving just days before the 1st Test.
On the other hand, from an England point of view, its better to lose him now than halfway through the series. If he'd attempted to stick it out, he would've been dead weight for the first few Tests (I was quite looking forward to the prospect after his insipid performances in the warmup matches). Instead, the talented Alastair Cook gets a shot at cementing the opening spot (it would be a long shot that Trescothick ever gets back into the Test squad). So I'm not sure that this will hurt England at all - it could galvanise the squad and sharpen their focus. Let's see what happens in the 2nd warm-up match at Adelaide.
| Posted by JC on Wed 15 Nov |  4 comments |
Just read this reaction from Jeff Thomson: "We've got Stuart MacGill sitting in the dressing room, so if all else fails we just bring him and Warnie out and I'm sure the Pommies ... they'll all be going home with depression." Ah, Thommo, you never left the 70's, did you?!
Posted by JC on 2006-11-15 19:41:31
Posted by JC on 2006-11-15 19:41:31
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