Western Daily Press (Saturday)
OBE recognises retired cricket star’s efforts to raise awareness of mental health
FORMER Somerset and England cricketer Marcus Trescothick has been awarded an OBE for services to mental ill health.
The batsman, who played 76 Test matches for England, works as a mental health ambassador for the Professional Cricketers’ Association.
He had already been made an MBE in 2006 for services to cricket.
Born in Keynsham, the opening batsman made his debut for Somerset in 1993 and made his One Day International debut for England seven years later.
His Test debut came in August 2000 against the West Indies.
Trescothick was an automatic choice for England between 2000 and 2006 before a stress-related illness threatened his career and forced him to pull out of the national squad. He began rebuilding his career with Somerset in 2007 and scored two double-centuries that season.
But he remained uneasy about returning to international cricket and announced his retirement from internationals in March 2008, opting to continue playing at county level for Somerset.
He suffered recurrences of his condition in both 2008 and 2009 when Somerset toured abroad.
He finally retired in 2019, holding several Somerset batting records.
Trescothick has been at the forefront of bringing mental illness and depression out into the open.
His book, Coming Back to Me, focuses on the difficulties he suffered when touring overseas and his resulting depression.
The book was named William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2008, becoming just the second autobiography to win the award.
Co-founder of the prize, Graham Sharpe, said that: “The judges felt it fearlessly tackled one of the great taboos of elite sport.”
In 2018 Trescothick was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Health at the winter graduation ceremony of the University of Bath.