A technically correct right-hander with an inscrutable temperament, Trott was born and raised in South Africa to a family steeped in cricketing history: he is related to Albert Trott, the former Australia batsman, though he is unsure exactly how. And he followed in the footsteps of Kevin Pietersen, committing his future to England then becoming an Ashes-winning batsman when he hit a hundred on Test debut at The Oval.

Two years later, and this time in Melbourne, Trott repeated the dose with a brilliant unbeaten 168 that ensured England would retain the urn on Australian soil for the first time in 24 years. In addition to his 135 not out at Brisbane, in which he had contributed to an iconic scoreline of 517 for 1, it was Trott's third hundred in five Ashes Tests, and briefly took his average against Australia to 100.83.

Trott's route to the England team was circuitous. He played in the Under-15 and Under-19 World Cups for South Africa but was a British passport holder and therefore not considered an overseas player, making his first team debut for Warwickshire in 2003.

Prior to that, Trott struck a record score of 245 for Warwickshire's Second XI on debut in 2002, sharing in a third-wicket stand of 397 with Trevor Penney. He scored 134 on his County Championship debut for Warwickshire against Sussex in 2003 and in the same year became the first batsman to carry his bat in the Twenty20 Cup, hitting a 54-ball 65 not out against Gloucestershire. In 2003 he also recorded his maiden first class five-wicket return, taking 7 for 39 against Kent at Canterbury.

Trott enjoyed a prolific 2005 season and was one of only two Warwickshire batsmen to score 1,000 first class runs with a top score of 210 and he topped the club's averages in the domestic one-day competition with an average of over 60 including two hundreds. His fine form continued with New Zealand side Otago over the summer, although he returned home early as a precaution after a scan on his back.

In 2006 he again topped 1000 runs and was rewarded for his consistency with a call-up to England's one-day squad in June 2007, but was already losing his form by then and suffered a poor end to the season. However, after another solid 18 months he earned his first Test call-up for the fifth Test of the Ashes series, and celebrated the occasion with a brilliant debut century.

A difficult tour of South Africa followed, with Trott making a vital 69 in a tense draw in the first Test at Centurion, but failing to pass fifty in five innings thereafter and finishing the tour with scores of 5 and 8 as the hosts squared the series at the Wanderers.

He was an inconsistent member of England's winter tour to Bangladesh, but bounced back with good early-season form for Warwickshire in 2010 and a marathon 226 to set up a win in the first Test of Bangladesh's tour at Lord's in May 2010. Then came the Australia tour, and by the end of that trip, his value to England at No. 3 could not be overstated.
Will Luke