Marcus Trescothick given guard of honour as he walks into sunset

It is officially the end of childhood for the Millenials. For a generation of cricket fans who grew up watching this beautiful game in the early to mid-2000s, even a mere mention of the name Marcus Trescothick brings a lot of happy memories. Despite not being the most technically correct batsman, Trescothick’s predominantly see-ball-hit-ball approach and his mastery over spin-bowling came as the breadth of fresh air from a country like England.

Trescothick’s tryst with International cricket started in 2000 but the seeds of that were sowed way back in 1997. In a county championship game in 1997, Trescothick- a Somerset man- scored a nonchalant 167 on a greenish track and in-process won the faith of Duncan Fletcher [The then Glamorgan Coach, who was in attendance that day]. Two and a half years later, when Fletcher became the coach of England, the Southpaw has handed his Test match debut against the visiting West Indies at Old Trafford.

From that point to 2006, Trescothick became one of the mainstays of English batting. The fastest to score 5,000 Test runs in games’ history, Trescothick was the chief architect of England’s 2005 Ashes win. Despite not nailing a single hundred, the southpaw finished as the second-highest run-getter with 431 runs across 10 innings at an average of 43.10, facing a monumental 715 balls [71.5 balls/innings]- the most by a batsman in the 2005 Ashes.

Trescothick walks into the sunset

But despite scoring all those runs- 5825 in 76 Tests & 4335 in 122 ODIs- Trescothick’s biggest legacy remains how he brought to light the issue of mental health which sportsman are vulnerable to while playing at the highest level. Despite not playing International cricket since 2006, the Southpaw continued to ply his trade and grit it out in FC cricket for his county Somerset.

But, as they say, all good things come to an end. And, Trescothick’s innings in cricket too has come to an end, unfortunately! After grinding it out for 26 years in competitive cricket, Marcus Trescothick has walked into the sunset.

👏 Somerset's Marcus Trescothick was given a fitting heroes reception as his incredible career for both club and country came to an end.pic.twitter.com/mpmufZzKjg

— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) September 26, 2019

Which is why despite Essex winning the 2019 County Championship courtesy of a draw against Somerset on Thursday, all eyes were on one man: Marcus Trescothick. Trescothick was not playing the game but he was brought in a substitute for the last 15 minutes of the match. And, as he has done on numerous occasions in the past, he ran over to the slip cordon and went down on his knees.  Somerset needed an outright win to claim the county championship, which is why they forfeited their second innings to have another crack at Essex.

Emotional scenes as Marcus Trescothick leaves field for last time as @EssexCricket beat @SomersetCCC to win the county championship. pic.twitter.com/WfWYBw6fU2

— Andy Lines (@andylines) September 26, 2019

However, Alastair Cook guided Essex home, but it was Trescothick who was the man of the moment. The Southpaw, who played 27 years for Somerset and retired from International cricket at his peak, courtesy mental health issues, was given a much-deserved guard of honor and it was him who led the teams off the field.