New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) Marcus Trescothick is uncertain about his future with the England Test side, as Stephen Fleming is set to take over as the permanent head coach.

Trescothick served as the interim head coach of the Three Lions during their recent historic 3-0 home victory over Pakistan, following Brendon McCullum’s departure from the position and Fleming’s upcoming appointment for the winter South Africa series.

Trescothick, who has served as McCullum’s assistant coach, is unsure whether he can remain with Fleming’s backroom staff once the New Zealander arrives in the UK in the coming days.

“No, not really,” Trescothick said when asked whether he had an idea of his Test role in the future, as quoted by Cricinfo. “I’ve spoken with Rob Key a little bit over the last couple of weeks and had bits of discussions on what might happen.

“I think when Stephen’s (Fleming) over and then they – Rob and Stephen and Brendon – can get together and really sort of thrash out exactly how it’s going to look, then we’ll probably be involved in those sort of conversations afterwards.”

He will now be heading to Southampton to join white-ball coach McCullum for the Sri Lanka T20I series, along with fellow assistants Sarah Taylor, Tim Southee and Jeetan Patel, while Kevin Pietersen will also arrive for his role as specialist mentor of the white-ball side.

“Our immediate plan is obviously then looking at the Sri Lanka series we’re now straight into, with the possibility of going maybe into Pakistan. But I think within the next couple of weeks we’ll know a bit more.

“I love doing both formats. It’s been brilliant and (I’m) privileged to be in the position of being assistant coach where you’re on the road because it’s great fun and you’re with the team and you’re working with the best. There’s nothing better than working with your own national country, of course. But we’ll see. We’ll see how it pans out.”

Meanwhile, England Test captain Joe Root heaped praise on Trescothick for his role with the side in the Pakistan series. “I think the way that he’s worked with me, the way that he’s worked with the group, has been outstanding,” Root said. “And I hope he takes a lot of confidence from it and if he ever gets the opportunity to be a head coach further down the line, it’s been great for him and he’s done a brilliant job over the course of the three games.”

Trescothick further emphasised the need for an England mindset within the Test coaching staff. “As much as we can within the course of coaching systems, you want someone within that that can highlight things that are important with England players and England teams and England series that you play,” said Trescothick. “Because they are different to other countries and unique in their own way.

“We want to try and promote our own from within and get them up to the top because there’s nothing better, I don’t think, than if you can get to that point. It’s not the be all and end all. But, I think, as much as we can have the representation in there, then the better it’ll be.”

–IANS

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