Marcus Trescothick on England's Test Opener Evolution
Marcus Trescothick has seen just about every version of an England top order. From the grind of the early 2000s to the Bazball storm, he has lived it, shaped it and worn the scars. So when he says England’s next Test opener does not have to be a specialist, it carries weight.
“You generally want your best top seven, however that looks,” he said. No grand blueprint. No insistence on a traditional pair of openers. Just a blunt truth: pick your best batters and work it out from there.
Bethell’s return forces a rethink
England will have to work it out quickly. Jacob Bethell, currently sidelined with a knee injury, is due back for the tour of South Africa in December, and his return rips open the neat, if imperfect, structure that has formed this summer.
Emilio Gay has spent his first season as a Test cricketer walking out alongside Ben Duckett. Three half-centuries hint at promise, but an average below 25 tells the harsher story. He has looked capable, yet not secure.
Duckett, now one of the senior figures in this side, produced England’s only hundred of the summer, against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in June. That innings reminded everyone why he has been backed so strongly. But he did not pass 20 in the three-match series against Pakistan and, since the start of the Ashes, his average has slipped under 24. For a man entrusted with setting the tone, that is a problem England can no longer ignore.
Behind them, Jordan Cox has quietly complicated everything. Thrown in at number three as Bethell’s stand-in, he has seized the chance. An average north of 42 since finally making his debut this summer, plus experience of opening in first-class cricket, makes him more than just a stopgap. He has the look of someone who wants that shirt for keeps.
Then comes Bethell himself. Touted as a potential Test opener, already promoted to the top of the order in England’s one-day side, he brings another option – and another headache. He is not just a batter, either. His left-arm spin adds a second layer to the selection puzzle.
Dan Lawrence, the other newcomer in the top six against Pakistan, offers off-spin and that might just insulate him when the squeeze comes. But Bethell’s return brings its own spin option and its own pressure on the batting order. Someone will have to move. Or go.
A different era, a different approach
Trescothick, one of England’s most successful Test openers and a pillar of the 2005 Ashes triumph, knows what it used to take to survive at the top.
“I reckon times have changed a little bit,” said the 50-year-old. “I think you look at your best batting line-up, however that fits up. If that's with a specialist opener, great. If not, I think you can plan around it in this day and age. Players adapt pretty quickly because they're chopping and changing formats.”
That is the modern calculation. The old orthodoxy demanded specialists, men built to leave, leave and leave again. Now, with schedules fractured and formats overlapping, adaptability has become a currency of its own. England are prepared to gamble that talent and temperament can trump job title.
For Trescothick, who has been interim coach through the Pakistan series, the theory is about to be tested by a new man in charge.
Fleming arrives, staff in flux
Stephen Fleming, appointed as England’s Test coach back in July, has watched the 3-0 win over Pakistan from afar. That distance is about to close. The former New Zealand captain is due in the UK in the coming days to start plotting the South Africa tour.
He will sit down with the England hierarchy, cast an eye over the white-ball series against Sri Lanka and, if time allows, drop in on the counties. The ODI and T20 sides remain under the command of his compatriot and close friend Brendon McCullum, but this is now Fleming’s red-ball project.
Under McCullum’s previous dual role, the backroom staff moved as one across formats, Trescothick included. That era looks to be ending. The structure is being redrawn, and big names are being sounded out.
Former Australia batter Mike Hussey has already revealed that Fleming approached him about a role, though reports in Australia say Hussey has turned it down. The reshuffle is real, even if the final picture is not.
Trescothick is caught in the middle of that uncertainty. He admits he does not yet know what his future role will be and, while he has a preference, he is keeping it to himself.
“It's probably best I don't mention it at the moment because it may not be the case of what happens,” he said. “I love doing both formats. It's brilliant and I've been privileged to be in the position of assistant coach.”
For now, he remains in the thick of it – and he is about to have some very familiar company.
Pietersen back in England colours
Kevin Pietersen is coming back. Twelve years after he was effectively cast out of the national set-up in the aftermath of the 5-0 Ashes hammering in 2013-14, one of England’s most audacious batters is returning in a new guise.
The 46-year-old has been appointed as a consultant for the white-ball side. His first day back in the England environment is on Sunday, as he joins preparations for the opening T20 against Sri Lanka in Southampton on Tuesday.
Trescothick has already been on the phone.
“We've spoken already, to plan a little bit,” he said. “I gave him a couple of things that I wanted him to look at, to get his advice on. He is buzzing. Putting back on the shirt or the tracksuit, he is buzzing for that opportunity.
“Having his presence around and the knowledge he has about batting – he sees batting in a different light to many different people. If we can tap into that, it's only going to benefit the team.”
Pietersen’s return adds another strong voice, another sharp mind, to an England operation that is being rebuilt on the fly. Fleming is flying in. The staff are shifting. The top order is up for grabs. Bethell is on his way back.
Somewhere in that churn, England must decide what a modern Test opener really looks like – and who is brave enough to take the job.
