Trescothick equals Gimblett record, ploughs ever on

Somerset 244 for 3 (Trescothick 117*, Myburgh 54) trail Nottinghamshire 401 (Mullaney 165, Overton 5-54) by 157 runsScorecard

Marcus Trescothick has taken his place alongside Harold Gimblett as Somerset’s most prolific century-maker in first-class cricket. The achievement has been counted down in the West Country for years and, if he recorded his 49th hundred in the gleaming white heat of Trent Bridge, it will be fervently hoped that the record happens to come his way at Taunton with the Quantocks shimmering in the haze and the chance for a post-match cider in the Ring of Bells.

In 17 previous matches at Trent Bridge, Trescothick had never made a hundred; last year he made a pair. When he walked off at the close of the second day, he had 117 to his name. He slowed markedly in the last hour, not just through weariness, although he was entitled to that, but through a recognition that he needed to be there on the morrow. At 244 for 3, Somerset still trail by 157 and they must face the legspin of Imran Tahir in the fourth innings. They will yearn for 500.

He has piled up three first-class hundreds in a fortnight, against the Pakistan tourists, Middlesex and now Nottinghamshire, delivering them with the unshowy sagacity of an experienced midwife delivering a child. His days are bountiful, his strokeplay hale and hearty. His old England batting partner, Andrew Strauss, has won the argument for flatter pitches – at least for the moment – and he can’t get out on them. It is to be hoped he sends a Christmas card.

At a time when the debate is variously about how the nation feels ignored by London’s ruling elites, and cricket feels the financial lure of T20 city cricket, he symbolises a staunchness and goodness in the shires. A straight drive against Harry Gurney and a six into the midwicket stand – appealingly close – were among his most memorable moments.

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