BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2001 | England in Zimbabwe

But Saville, now Director of Excellence Manager for the England and Wales Cricket Board, remembers being pleasantly surprised at Trescothick's handling of the tour.

"It's always difficult choosing a captain at under-19 level," he said.

"First and foremost you want someone who will play in every match so often it comes down to the best player. And it's rare that you know much about him as a captain.

Quick learner

"Trescothick had no real leadership experience at the time.

"Yes, he was more experienced than the other players, having toured with the under-19's the previous winter, but I remember we went as much on gut instinct as anything else.

"Without a doubt, however, David Lloyd, the coach, and I were delighted. He did really well."

Marcus Trescothick warms up
Giving a lead in training

Surprisingly, that tour remains Trescothick's only sustained taste of captaincy, having only occasionally stepped into Jamie Cox's shoes at Somerset.

That, though, should not, in Saville's mind, preclude him from following a similar path to Nasser Hussain.

"Tresco and Nasser are similar cricketers in many ways, never happy to be a batsman alone, always thinking even when not captain.

"You can see them asking themselves: "What about moving that fielder? Why is this batsman scoring his runs there? It comes down to cricket awareness."

Good man management

Those same qualities were apparent in Trescothick as long ago as the under-19 tour to the Caribbean eight winters ago and the team's performances appear to reflect the captain's influence.

After dominating the first unofficial Test in Trinidad, in which Trescothick scored an unbeaten century in the second innings, England lost the second match, at St Kitts, before drawing the third Test in Georgetown.

Marcus Trescothick
Talking things over with Duncan Fletcher

More impressive were the team's expoits in one-day cricket, winning the international series 2-1 and gaining victories against Barbados and Guyana.

"We were playing a side that was older than us - under 20s really - and we were young, which made it especially difficult," said Saville.

"Andrew Flintoff, for instance, was only 16."

But it was off the field that Saville remembers being most impressed with Trescothick.

Popular bloke

"The biggest problem with under-19 captains is that they often want their friends to be in the team.

"You ask them for their preferred team before coming a selection meeting and invariably you find a player or two who probably shouldn't be there. Then you realise that they are a good mate or from the same county or region as the captain.

Marcus Trescothick
The young Trescothick

"Marcus didn't fall into that trap. In the dressing-room he would always say his piece and he would always come to selection meetings with ideas.

"We didn't always agree with them but we were happy that he had opinions of his own and wasn't afraid to voice them.

"He handled the difficult decisions well and we made a point of getting him to read out the team in the meetings before matches.

"The other players respected him, particularly as he was seen as probably the best batsman in the squad at the time. And just as important they all liked him as a bloke.

"Personally, I think Trescothick will make a very good England captain."