Trescothick extends England exile

Marcus Trescothick ruled himself out on Wednesday of the whole of England's (northern hemisphere) winter tour programme, saying he hadn't fully recovered from the effects of a stress-related illness.

However, he insisted he still wanted to play for England in the future.

The 31-year-old opening batsman, who hasn't played international cricket for nearly a year, was included in England's provisional 30-man squad earlier this month for September's inaugural World Twenty20 event in South Africa.

But the Somerset left-hander, in a statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said, "Whilst I have been enjoying my cricket for Somerset this summer and feel that I am making good progress, I need to ensure that I am completely ready for a return to international cricket before making myself available for selection."

Trescothick added, "I recently informed the selectors that I was happy to be included in the 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup to leave all options open but I am now clear that I should take more time to complete my recovery. I still have ambitions to play for England."

England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: "The selectors have been acutely conscious that it would be counter-productive to try to rush Marcus back into international action before he was ready.

"We appreciate the fact that Marcus has alerted us at the earliest opportunity of his decision which will avoid there being any disruption to the team's one-day planning processes.

"Marcus has proved himself to be a very special talent on the international stage and we look forward to his making himself available again for England when the time is right and to his pushing his case for selection through his performances for Somerset."

Trescothick has been in fine form for Somerset this season, scoring three first-class hundreds, including a career-best 284 and Brian Rose, the county's director of cricket, said, "Marcus has made terrific progress this summer with Somerset and his longer team future remains the primary concern for us all.

"His decision has clarified the way forward for Somerset and England. He is still relatively young for an international batsman and we believe that he has many more years playing at club and international level," the former England batsman added.

Trescothick, who has appeared in 76 Tests and 123 one-day internationals, hasn't played for England since being bowled for nought by Shoaib Akhtar during a limited overs international against Pakistan at Hampshire's Rose Bowl ground on September 5 last year.

Following that match, he made himself unavailable for the Champions Trophy tournament in India.

He was, however, included for the subsequent Ashes tour of Australia but withdrew before the first Test.

Trescothick has scored 5,825 runs in Tests with 14 hundreds at an average of 43.79 and 4,335 at 37.37 in one-day internationals with 12 hundreds - an England record.

But replacement opener Alastair Cook has made a fine start to his international career with the 22-year-old Essex left-hander scoring six hundreds in his 19 Tests to date.