tresco exit a massive blow

Trescothick - will be sorely missed.

By Simon Wilkes

Although Marcus Trescothick is not the player he was in 2005's stunning Ashes triumph in England, the Aussies still had a lot of respect for him.

And that is why Tuesday's news that the Somerset opener is flying home from the tour Down Under is a crushing blow to Andrew Flintoff's troops.

The 31-year-old has suffered a recurrence of the stress-related illness which forced him out of the recent Champions Trophy and India tour.

And now the England selectors' gamble on taking him to Australia has backfired so badly, Ricky Ponting's men are even bigger favourites to reclaim the little urn in the coming months.

Trescothick had insisted he was ready for battle after his break from cricket - but the vacuum his absence will leave at the top of the order is simply huge.

He has never scored a century against the Aussies, but was the man who set the tempo for England's assault on the Ashes two summers ago and from the second Test onwards laid the platform for crucial big first-innings totals.

Trescothick has racked up 5,825 runs for England at an average of 43.79, and has a healthy average of 33.76 against the Australians.

And although Alastair Cook has proved his Test-match credentials, he is still finding his feet in the international arena and will lean heavily on Andrew Strauss when they walk out to face Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee on November 23 in Brisbane.

Another thing which will no doubt delight Ponting & Co is that Ian Bell will now definitely start - and most likely take the number-three slot.

That means if the Aussies prise out Cook or Strauss early doors, next in will be a man who has been prolific against nearly everyone but the Australians.

The Warwickshire batsman made huge strides this summer, scoring three consecutive centuries against Pakistan, but he needs to tame his Aussie demons if England are to have any chance of holding on to the Ashes.

Bell averages 47.66 in the Test arena at present, but just 17.10 against the men from Down Under, making double figures just three times in 10 innings (65, 59 and 21).

He has also scored a lot of his runs from the relative safety zone of number six, rather than against the new-ball bowlers.

But Bell insists he is now a completely different player to the one who looked scarily out of his depth two summers ago - and he must walk the walk, not just talk the talk, in order to win myself and his doubters over.