Trescothick scoops award for 'brave' autobiography

Marcus Trescothick’s autobiography was this afternoon named as the winner of the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

The book, Coming Back to Me, charts the Somerset and England batsman’s role in the historic 2005 Ashes series and his battles with depression that have since seen him drop out of international cricket.

“This is only the second autobiography to win the Award,” said Hill’s spokesman and founder of the prize, Graham Sharpe, “The judges felt it fearlessly tackled one of the great taboos of elite sport.”

Trescothick received a winner’s cheque for £20,000 at a ceremony at Waterstone’s in Piccadilly, London, hosted by John Inverdale as the 20th winner of this award.

“It felt all a bit strange,” Trescothick said after receiving the award, “I nearly started to cry a bit.”

Other books shortlisted for the 2008 award were:

John Carlin - Playing the Enemy; Nelson Mandela And The Game That Made A Nation

Janie Hampton - The Austerity Olympics: When the Games Came To London in 1948

Rowan Simons - Bamboo Goalposts: One Man’s Quest to Teach The People’s Republic of China To Love Football

Jeremy Whittle - Bad Blood: The Secret Life Of The Tour de France

Jonathan Wilson - Inverting the Pyramid: A History Of Football Tactics