Jonathon Trott - England's Mr. Reliable

England’s Mr Reliable, Jonathan Trott, isn’t one of those players on whom acres and reams of newsprint overflowing with superlative adjectives would be expended. But that doesn’t seem to bother the utilitarian, Trott, one bit. His role in the England team is to play percentage cricket, and erect a solid platform for the biffers and hitters down the order to raid opposition ranks, with their wide array of strokes. In an unhurried fashion, with more emphasis on singles and twos, Trott, goes about proficiently accumulating runs.

Even if we turn back the pages in Trott’s career, the consistency-personified batsman wasn’t rated highly when he came to the shores of England from the Rainbow nation in ’03, and made a slew of half centuries in domestic cricket. In fact, during that time, county cricket’s cognoscenti saw Trott’s Warwickshire teammate, Troughton, as a player with immense potential. Soon, all the limelight shifted to the young prodigy Ian Bell. Trott though, just like a true run-machine, continued to set county-circuit alight by scoring gallons of runs. From an young age, he seems to thrive, while playing under the shadow of another player.

It was at The Oval in ’09, in his debut test against Australia when Trott showcased to the cricketing World his zen master-like concentration prowess by defying Australian pacers, and making a masterly century. It turned out to be a gratifying contest between bat and ball, but it was Trott who emerged on top. Since passing the trial by fire with that match winning century against Australia, Trott, has gone from strength to strength. These days, Trott’s poise and purpose at the crease must be re-assuring for his teammates watching the game from the pavilion. His rock-like presence while batting, brings surety to England’s line-up.

In-spite of not having newfangled shots in his kitty, Trott, has carved a niche for himself in one-day cricket too. He has amassed 2771 runs at a highly impressive average of 53.28. In the ongoing Champions trophy, Trott has been the bedrock of England’s batting line-up. Every time England have found themselves in troubled waters, Trott with clinical precision has steered the ship to safety. It has to be said that England desperately need, Trott, to fire in the final of Champions trophy against India.

If there is a minor blemish in Trott’s one-day career, it is his career strike rate. There is an inkling that he has a habit of taking time to get his eye-in, and as a result, plays-out too many dot deliveries, early in his innings. Once he is set though, Trott has shown on innumerable occasions that he is perfectly capable of upping the tempo, and scoring at a brisk rate.

In a gist – Trott’s batting can be best exemplified by how he played in the semifinal against South Africa. With fire in his belly, the impressive, Chris Morris, was threatening to cut a swathe through England’s much-vaunted batting line-up. Trott with his secure and committed defence though, weathered the storm.

Slowly but steadily, Trott, by playing a mixture of copybook flicks, interfused with well-judged cover-drives took the game away from South Africa. When England won the match with seven wickets in hand, Trott’s strike rate was amazingly hovering around 100.

In the semifinal, he with a touch of calm countenance systematically reduced South Africa’s meticulously well thought-out plans into a lottery. Yes, England’s stratagem of playing out the new ball has been bemoaned by critics. But in reality, it has worked for them in the Champions Trophy.

It is hard to fathom why Trott gets so much flak from critics, as barring a few games, Trott has on numerous occasions risen like a knight in shining armour to shepherd England to safety. He has even been able to inject the much needed pace into the innings.

A case in point being, his century at Sydney in a one-day match in 10/11. In-spite of Trott’s well-paced hundred that helped England to put up a mammoth score on the board, they lost. Now, it wasn’t Trott’s fault that bowlers lost the plot completely, and leaked runs at a crucial juncture of the match. Interestingly, as soon as England win a game or two, Trott is hailed as the man for the crisis. The typical volte-face by the media smells of hypocrisy.

England’s think-tank though, seem to have complete faith in Trott’s abilities. With the all-important Ashes series looming on the horizon, the solidarity that Trott brings to England’s line-up may prove to be the telling difference between two sides.

The last time, arch-rivals, England and Australia met in the Ashes series, Australian pacers couldn’t decipher Trott’s simple yet effective method of batsmanship. Everytime, they looked to bowl at the stumps, Trott sent the ball scurrying to the mid-wicket boundary. Whenever they adjusted their lines by bowling outside the off-stump, Trott, showed exemplary judgement to either leave the ball, or penetrate the interstices of the off-side field with drives. Down under, he played like a courageous conquistador.

It isn’t just against pace bowling that Trott has made an indelible mark, as he has delivered the goods while playing spin-dominated attacks too. In the recently concluded test series in India, Trott, played a typical tenacious knock in the final test at Nagpur. A few seasons back in UAE in a Test series against Pakistan, he was the only one who showed a semblance of fight, while facing up-to the canny Ajmal. Trott has come a long way from the days when he was at sixes and sevens against unheralded spinners from the subcontinent in the Lombard under-15 World Cup held in England in ’96.

Trott is your quintessential perfectionist. From marking his guard, or with his bottom-handed grip flicking it through the on-side, Trott wants everything to be picture-perfect. His detractors lampoon about Trott being too staid, and always struck in second gear. But the unfazed Trott seems to have banished all those thoughts. One wonders, whether his brain is computerized to only make mountains of runs, and build large edifices for his team. In short, here is a cricketer who is imbued with a winning mentality.