Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 1106 Wed. July 11, 2007  
   
Sports


Eng thinking of Marcus


England are weighing up whether to give an international recall to Marcus Trescothick.

The 31-year-old opening batsman has not played for England in nearly a year and left the Ashes tour of Australia before the first Test with a recurrence of a stress related illness he first suffered in India in 2006.

Both Trescothick and England have been coy about an international return for the Somerset left-hander.

But to have a chance of playing in September's inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa he must be named in the provisional 30-man squad on Wednesday.

International Cricket Council playing conditions allow nations to select a large initial squad which must be cut to 15 by August 11.

Trescothick is one of his country's best limited overs batsmen of all-time and following the 2-1 one-day series defeat against the West Indies, concluded at Trent Bridge here Saturday, England coach Peter Moores indicated he was still in the selectors' thoughts.

"Marcus is a very good one-day player and when we announce that 30, if he's in it, you will know the time is right for him to come back in."

It was not only Trescothick whom England missed as West Indies, who had been 1-0 down, secured their first trophy abroad since defeating their hosts in the 2004 Champions Trophy final at The Oval with an overwhelming 93-run win at Trent Bridge.

England, in the absence of injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, only took five wickets at Trent Bridge, just as they'd done during Wednesday's 61-run defeat at Edgbaston.

However, Moores insisted he did not want to use injuries or the notion of a team in transition as excuses for defeat for an England side that, like the West Indies, failed to reach the World Cup semifinals.

"The key for me is we want to win," said Moores. "I don't want to hide behind the fact we are going to rebuild and going to have to wait.

"We want to win games of one-day cricket straight away. I also know through experience that you don't always turn things around that quickly."

England are just a point ahead of eighth-placed West Indies in the ICC one-day rankings and the tourists have a chance to improve their ranking in the quadrangular event, also featuring Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, starting in Dublin on Tuesday.

Meanwhile England, who have three Tests against India before they take on Rahul Dravid's men in seven one-day internationals, are considering appointing a fielding coach.

Jonty Rhodes, arguably the outstanding fielder of his era, has been linked with joining a backroom staff that already includes his former South Africa team-mate Allan Donald, now an England bowling coach.

"As with the rest of the support team we want the right person to do that job," said Moores. "If we get a fielding coach we want him to influence fielding in England not just at England level."