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It is always disappointing to see a player’s international career come to an unexpected and premature end – even if it is a Pom. The news came through on Friday that Marcus Trescothick had left his Somerset teammates to head back to England after a relapse of his stress related illness during the Champions Twenty20 tournament in India.
I found this latest chapter Trescothick’s life both sad and inspiring.
Sad in that even if he has another summer like the one just gone where he was voted as the English domestic player of the year, any chance of playing for England again is gone for good.
Inspiring in that he continues to face up to the challenge of not only trying to overcome his illness and look to continue his career but his willingness to seek help when times get tough.
Marcus Trescothick’s autobiography ‘Coming back to me’ is one of the more interesting and captivating cricket autobiographies I have read.
In the book, he is very open in talking about the struggles that he has had, leading to the meltdown in an Indian hotel room in 2006 and then the second public relapse in Sydney at the beginning of the 2006/07 Ashes tour of Australia.
The fact that out of 332 pages only 12 are dedicated to the 2005 Ashes series tells you that it is more than just another book boasting about past glories.
Recently it looked promising from the outside that there could be a chance that Trescothick was potentially on the road to the international scene. His form for Somerset led to talk of bringing him back for the Oval decider in this year’s Ashes series. While it didn’t eventuate, the fact that he was considered a real chance must have given all a glimmer of hope.
During the Champions Tournament, he looked at ease on the field and even seemed relaxed and confident enough to add to the commentary from his position on the field. However, it seems that the pressure to perform and being away from home was all too much.
According to an interview by Brian Rose, Director of Cricket for Somerset on www.clt20.com “…he came to me after the second game and explained that he really was finding it very difficult to give his hundred percent, both physically and mentally.”
Rose also made the comment in the same interview that “He needs to come to terms with the fact that he might be playing domestic cricket in the UK for the rest of his career”; a sure sign that the dream of returning to the international stage is well and truly over.
Marcus Trescothick isn’t the first high profile sportsperson to come out and talk about his battle with depression. Chances are that he won’t be the last either.
That said, the fact that he has been willing to speak out, seek help and try and beat his demons is something that should be admired.
As he mentions at the end of his book, Trescothick writes that he learnt that depression is an illness and that just because you want to beat it, doesn’t mean it will happen.
“I also learned to seek help first and worry about what people might think of you later” he writes in the afterword of his book.
It may not be the done thing in Australia to show admiration for an English cricketer…but in this case, it is worth making the exception.
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