The beginning of the end for Trescothick?

In a final and desperate attempt to successfully deal with his stress related illness, Marcus Trescothick may well have taken the first step towards his retirement from cricket as he pulled out of yet another tour abroad.

The withdrawal is due to the same condition that ended his international career.

The Somerset man has been forced to pull out of his country’s Twenty20 Champions League campaign with a recurrence of the stress related illness that forced him to retire from international cricket in March last year.

This is the third occasion in which the illness has forced him to leave a tour, something that first occurred back in 2006 during England’s tour of India.

To say the illness has hindered Trescothick’s cricket career would be a huge understatement, and the loss to his country was summed up by the frenzied speculation surrounding his possible return for the fifth Ashes test at The Oval back in August.

It was a return that Trescothick refused to entertain or let distract him as his superb form continued until the end of the season where he picked up county cricket’s player of the year award and was also named cricket’s most valuable player of the year.

This latest setback however has all but extinguished any possibility of a return to the national team and has finally set the wheels in motion for his career to end.

With Twenty20 cricket becoming more predominant and the first class game diminishing in stature, the opportunities for matches to take place this side of the equator are going to be limited as the years go on.

Along with that, the added responsibility of being named captain of the Taunton outfit and as well as the time he’ll need to fully get over this latest setback means it could be a long winter for the former England opener.

Trescothick is clearly committed to trying to battle against this crippling illness however, as on two other occasions, he attempted to make previous tours before eventually failing to make the trip and extended periods on the sidelines receiving treatment meant he missed months of action.

If the batsman’s career was ended by this horrific illness then a real talent would be lost from domestic cricket, as his form has blossomed since his personal exile from the international arena, but you can’t help but think it will eventually be his downfall.

Can the star really be expected to return from this third bout of illness and revive the sort of blistering form we saw him produce last season? He’s under enough pressure as it is.