Trescothick to join England coaching set-up for Ashes

LONDON: Former opening batsman Marcus Trescothick is set to join the England coaching team for the first two Tests of the Ashes series.

Trescothick has recently announced his decision to retire as a player at the end of this season and is currently struggling to break into the Somerset side.

He will spend the training days ahead of the Edgbaston and Lord’s Tests with the England squad at both training sessions and at the team hotel.

Jonathan Trott has fulfilled a similar role with England ahead of the Test against Ireland.

However, the appointments do not make it clear if one of Trescothick or Trott are about to be made England’s batting coach.

The ECB have yet to identify a successor to Mark Ramprakash, who left his role a couple of months ago, but are using the likes of Trott and Trescothick to help ease the burden on Graham Thorpe - the ECB’s lead batting coach

Thorpe is currently suffering from a sore shoulder and missed England training on Tuesday due to illness.

As a vastly experienced and successful player - the 2005 Ashes series was among his 76 Tests - Trescothick has the respect of all current players and understands the demands, both emotionally and technically, of playing at international level.