Trott sets the record straight
Jonathan Trott has come a long way from being one of the late and most unlikely heroes in England's Ashes triumph back home
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Jonathan Trott has come a long way from being one of the late and most unlikely heroes in England's Ashes triumph back home. Despite a 50-plus average he is not a certainty in the Test starting XI, and is developing a reputation for his unusually long pre-ball routine. In an interview with Mail Online, the batsman says he is fed up of the undue attention his rituals at the crease are getting.
"I'm not an obsessive kind of guy. But if you speak to cricketers in general, you'll find we're all a bit crazy. We've all got our own weird routines. But I don't do mine to annoy opponents or to be different. I just do it to get myself ready.
"Alec Stewart used to look around behind square-leg before each ball, but no one used to go on about that. But because my crease-scratching takes a little bit longer, and because maybe there wasn't much else to talk about during my double-hundred at Lord's, people started to hone in on it."
In the Telegraph, Michael Vaughan is convinced that Australia should play Shaun Tait in the Ashes, and that England should bring in Eoin Morgan at Trott's expense to combat the fast bowler.
If Tait knocks over a couple with the new ball, which looks like happening every time, then it becomes very difficult for England. It means England must get their batting line-up spot on and that means sneaking Morgan in the side even if it means dropping Jonathan Trott despite his double hundred against Bangladesh. I look at Kevin Pietersen in 2005 and this feels like the same situation.
People said then he didn't play the short ball well but he had never faced it and unless we expose Morgan we will never know. With every player you can pick out a negative. I just look at the positives he brings to the team. He is calm, and composed, he fields well and is a great lad in the dressing room.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo