Trescothick tips Stoneman to be solid gold

MARCUS Trescothick believes the Ashes offers an opportunity for one of England’s borderline batsmen to forge a lengthy international career.

And Trescothick, one of the 2005 history men who ended 16 years of Australian domination, thinks it is Mark Stoneman (left) who could make a name for himself. Stoneman occupies the opening position Trescothick held for 76 Tests, James Vince is pencilled in for the No 3 spot while Dawid Malan and Gary Ballance are vying to be named at five for the first Test in Brisbane on November 23.

‘Someone has to be the man that says “I am going to be the one to change our batting problems”,’ said Trescothick. ‘There are four people with the opportunity to nail this down. Whether it is batting three or batting five, that opportunity is there for someone.’

Surrey’s Stoneman is the only player to have scored 1,000 runs in each of the past five seasons in the County Championship’s top flight, and Trescothick said: ‘He’s a tough lad.

‘The Aussie media look to attack the weaker members of your team straight away. I don’t think any of that will bother him because mentally he is strong.

‘In terms of his batting, he is very good off the back foot, and Australia is not the kind of place where you have to get a massive stride into the ball. The conditions will suit his game.’