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Marcus Trescothick insists he still has the desire to play again for England after informing the selectors he does not feel ready to make himself available this winter.
The 31-year-old Somerset left-hander made himself unavailable for this winter’s tours after admitting he has not recovered from his long-term problems with a stress-related illness.
But Trescothick, who had been named in England's provisional 30-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa this September, is still hoping he can prove his desire to the selectors in the future once he has overcome his problems.
"It was relatively hard and it would have been a lovely situation to get back in this winter, but I knew as the days went on and the way things were progressing that I wasn't quite ready for it yet," said Trescothick.
"Time is going on and naturally people will make their own minds up, but I've still got aspirations of getting back and I believe I will get back.
“But it's not a simple road and I can only assess it as I play for Somerset."
Trescothick remains one of England's most talented batsmen and has 12 one-day international centuries to his name - the next best is Kevin Pietersen with five - but is yet to feature for England at any level since last September.
The last of his 76 Test appearances was against Pakistan at the Rose Bowl at the end of last summer while.
After that match he informed the selectors he was unable to go to the ICC Champions Trophy in India the following month, but flew out with England to Australia, only to return home shortly before the first Test.
He had previously been forced to withdraw from the tour of India in February 2006 with the same problem and has since consulted performance health counsellors, who were recommended by the Professional Cricketers' Association, to try to work through his problems.
This summer he has returned to county cricket, scoring three centuries - including a career-best 284 against Northamptonshire - and averaged 74 to prompt the England selectors to consider him again by naming him in their 30-man squad a fortnight ago.
He admitted his return to county cricket had rejuvenated him, but also conceded that the extra time away from home is something he will still have to deal with if he is to make an international comeback - particularly as his wife Hayley is expecting their second child.
"County cricket has been great fun this year," said Trescothick. “I have really enjoyed it. It's less stressful and you spend more time at home.
"You spend so much time away from home now and that's something I will have to deal with if I make it back and play for England.
"Every England game I saw on TV I thought I would love to be back there. I saw the crowds and the lads playing and it brought back memories of playing for England.
"I thought I would love to have a crack at it but then when I thought about it in depth I realised I wasn't ready to go yet. As time went on, it wasn't the right decision to make.
"If I get to the point where I believe it's not going to happen, I'll make a decision on that then but while I have aspirations I'm not going to give that a thought."
He added: "The baby is due in January. I have looked at that, my family is important to me but it was more about other factors.
"I can only do my job and let the selectors and the ECB take care of that side of it. But it's not rocket science to work out what is going to happen."
England chairman of selectors David Graveney said: "Marcus has proved himself to be a very special talent on the international stage and we look forward to his making himself available again for England when the time is right and to his pushing his case for selection through his performances for Somerset."
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