Trott's after runs, not fans
In the Telegraph , Simon Hughes burrows into the psyche of Jonathon Trott and determines the man is after runs, not fans, which is no bad thing for England.
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
In the Telegraph, Simon Hughes burrows into the psyche of Jonathon Trott and determines the man is after runs, not fans, which is no bad thing for England.
It is that naked ambition and application which England need. It is that total immersion that enabled him to make a century against Australia on his test debut last summer, an innings vital to England's Ashes triumph. His dedication to the crease is writ large, in the painstaking redrawing of a line demarcating middle stump, extending a yard down the pitch towards the bowler. The reason, to allow him to stand outside his crease in county cricket "to make the bowling faster", he says. That is a measure of how desperate he is to succeed at international level.
Almost mechanical in his movements, he is not an especially compelling batsman to watch, tending to chug along at his own pace to his own rhythm.
There is a slightly clinical nature to his shots. He could be a German footballer. You'd bet he'd score from the penalty spot. After a lot of practice, of course. We don't like people like that in England, do we? But you have to admire them. They are winners, and that is the point is it not?
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo