da poker： Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss cemented their names in therecord-books with an opening stand of 273, to swing a topsy-turvy matchback in England’s favour on the third day at Kingsmead
Andrew Miller28-Dec-2004
Marcus Trescothick reaches his hundred on ‘a fantastic day’Getty Images
Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss cemented their names in therecord-books with an opening stand of 273, to swing a topsy-turvy matchback in England’s favour on the third day at Kingsmead. And at the close,Trescothick, who eventually fell for 132, was a contented man.”That was a fantastic day,” said Trescothick, “but we can’t get too happyor relaxed just yet. We’ve got two huge days ahead of us, and tomorrow’sfirst session will be crucial and will probably dictate the way this gameis going. They are going to be two big days of Test cricket.”Although England have encountered some difficulties while going for theirshots so far on this tour, Trescothick and Strauss had no qualms abouttaking the attack to South Africa today, and the approach paid dividends.”The wicket was pretty good,” said Trescothick. “We’re both positiveplayers and we made the most of our opportunities. The pace was differenttoday. It didn’t zip off the pitch so much, although it still does a bitwith the new ball when the seam’s hard. If we get through that periodtomorrow, we need to make the most of it.”In the course of their innings, Trescothick and Strauss passed 1000 runsas an opening partnership, and Strauss himself is just 33 runs away fromreaching 1000 individual runs. “Watching from the other end, he makes itlook pretty easy,” admitted Trescothick. “People keep bumping him,throwing everything at him, but it doesn’t really faze him too much.”We communicate well,” added Trescothick. “We talk a lot, and it doesn’talways have to be about the cricket – it could be someone walking past, ora song someone’s singing. We don’t have to focus all the time, but justrelax and enjoy what’s going on. Of course, it depends on getting to knowyour team-mates and how they respond,” he added. “Nasser never said a wordwhen he came to the wicket, but Straussy and I have a joke and relax eachother.And Trescothick admitted that Strauss’s unflappable temperament has helpedhis own game as well. “Of course it does,” he said. “If you’re playingwith someone who’s a nervous wreck, it’s bound to affect the way you play.But he’s full of confidence and taking it all in his stride. And he’s beenlike that all through his career. He’s calm, and it’s helped him do sowell so quickly.”Trescothick added that Strauss’s personality was precisely what theEngland team needed. “He’s an easy guy to fit in, and he’s perfect forwhat we need at the moment. His attitude is spot on, he works hard and heknows what he wants. As a partnership, we’ve got on well since he cameinto the team, and since we know we are going in together every time, wemight as well enjoy it.”For Trescothick, today’s century was an important landmark, as he hasattractedcriticism for his inability to replicate his home form on overseas trips.”This is a huge step forward for me,” he admitted. “I’ve not necessarilyfound the answer, but today, mentally, it was a big step in the rightdirection.”And just to be involved today was a high,” he added. “It’s a nice feelingto fight back from a difficult period where we didn’t bat or bowlparticularly well. But it showed the character of the team, which issomething we’ve worked on all year. We never give up, and we keep fightingand improving.”As for England’s situation, Trescothick refused to get carried away by onegood day’s batting. “A lead of 550 would be nice,” he joked. “But we can’tget too far ahead, as tomorrow’s a huge morning. We need to getpartnerships going, and the scoring-rate going, and set our totals.”