Marcus Trescothick hopes he has not spoiled England's chances of pushing for victory over Sri Lanka - after cracking his highest Test score. Trescothick's brilliant 161 yesterday, which included three sixes and 23 other boundaries, helped England establish a 239-run advantage in the second Test at Edgbaston as they reached 401 for five in reply to the tourists' 162.
His knock eclipsed the 122 he scored against Sri Lanka in Galle last year and was his fifth England hundred after previously hitting two in Tests and two in one-day internationals. But England lost on all four of those occasions and the Somerset left-hander hopes that trend will come to an end this weekend.
"I've been play pretty well in my preparation and practice and really I've been waiting in the wings to get a big score," said Trescothick, who scored a double hundred at Edgbaston for England Under-19s against India eight years ago. "The last two times I've made a Test century we lost the game, but I'm hoping this will turn the tables. We're in a great position but there's a big day ahead of us which we hope will give us the platform for the rest of the game."
Trescothick revealed England have not discussed the prospect of declaring yet, but he believes it could come some time tomorrow afternoon as they push for the victory which would give them an important advantage in the three-Test series.
"We haven't spoken about a declaration as yet, but we'll see how things go in the first hour - that will be important and we will assess the situation at lunch. The performance here should give us confidence for the rest of the summer ahead - we're playing well and need to continue for the rest of the season."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
