In the aftermath of England’s dismal ODI showing in India, the one place England’s selectors shouldn’t be looking when it comes to dishing out blame is in the direction of Jonathan Trott, says All Out Cricket columnist David Green.
Of those who have batted 20 innings or more, only six batsmen in the history of one-day international cricket have an average of over 50 or more, and one of those is Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands who – despite leading the way with a monumental average of 67 from his 32 one-day innings – has scored the majority of his runs against Associate countries.
That leaves us with South Africa’s Hashim Amla (50 innings at 55.24), who also has a remarkable strike rate of 92.5, Australia’s former one-day supremo Michael Bevan (196 innings at 53.58), his successor in the role of Aussie ‘finisher’ Mike Hussey (137 innings at 50.70) and two of the protagonists from England’s ill-fated ODI series against India.
MS Dhoni’s (175 innings at 51.55) efforts against England, in which he went the whole series without being dismissed, rightly sparked universal praise, but the other member of the exclusive club, England’s No.3 Jonathan Trott (39 innings at 51.37), still finds himself the victim of opprobrium. So, why is Trott subjected to such criticism, and, perhaps more importantly, is it warranted?
Firstly, it’s important to make the point that I regard Dhoni as currently the finest one-day batsman in the world. Whether he is embellishing an innings, as he did in Hyderabad and Kolkata, or expertly timing a tricky run-chase, as he did in the World Cup final and the tight finish in the third match of the series Mohali, Dhoni remains remarkably cool under pressure and always backs himself to score the runs needed to win a match or set an imposing target.
Trott is not even close to being as multi-faceted a one-day batsman as Dhoni. The Warwickshire right-hander only knows how to play one way and even his biggest supporters would admit his approach is a case of substance over style; but the criticism levelled at Trott after the defeat in Mohali was staggering.
Trott scored 98 not out from 116 balls at a decent enough strike-rate of 84.50 and anchored England to a total of 298, thanks to a stand with Samit Patel that realised 103 runs in the last 11.5 overs. This should have been enough to beat India and were it not for a shocking performance behind the stumps from Craig Kieswetter and some wayward bowling, England would have surely won. Indeed, this was the only game in which the tourists competed to the end, and Trott’s innings was perhaps the only thing saving them from another humiliating defeat.
With regard to strike-rate, Trott’s career rate of 78.51 is markedly lower than Dhoni, Amla and Hussey’s, but is interestingly four runs higher than Bevan’s – although it has to be conceded that the one-day game today is a different beast to the one in which the left-handed New South Welshman so excelled. In comparison to his teammates, Trott’s strike-rate is as good as Alastair Cook’s and better than that of Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara.
So, why all the animosity towards Trott? Well, this can probably be partly explained by the fact he only seems to have one gear and doesn’t seem able to step up the pace during the critical Powerplay overs. His boundary count is certainly lower than most other top-order batsmen, but Trott’s job is surely to let England’s more natural strokemakers bat around him – if he scores 80 at his usual career strike-rate, then the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan should be able to help take England to potentially matchwinning totals in excess of 300.
The problem is not Trott; it is elsewhere. Morgan’s innovative strokeplay was sorely missed in India and with Pietersen still in a trough in the 50-over form of the game (although there were signs of recovery in Delhi and Mohali), there was no one else to play the creative forcing role – Bopara retreated within himself, Craig Kieswetter is still a work in progress and Jonny Bairstow is only just embarking on his international career. Whilst Dhoni had the likes of Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina to keep their foot on the gas at the other end, Trott was not so fortunate and given that he lacks Dhoni’s repertoire, he is not the sort of batsman who can do it all on his own in one-day cricket.
When Andy Flower and Cook sit down to discuss what went wrong in India, the one place they shouldn’t be looking is in Trott’s direction. Whatever you might hear, the embarrassing 5-0 whitewash was certainly not Trott’s fault.
David Green is the warped mind behind The Reverse Sweep cricket blog and regards Douglas Jardine as his ultimate cricket hero. You can follow David on Twitter @TheReverseSweep
In Defence Of Jonathan Trott
In the aftermath of England’s dismal ODI showing in India, the one place England’s selectors shouldn’t be looking when it comes to dishing out blame is in the direction of Jonathan Trott, says All Out Cricket columnist David Green.
Of those who have batted 20 innings or more, only six batsmen in the history of one-day international cricket have an average of over 50 or more, and one of those is Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands who – despite leading the way with a monumental average of 67 from his 32 one-day innings – has scored the majority of his runs against Associate countries.
That leaves us with South Africa’s Hashim Amla (50 innings at 55.24), who also has a remarkable strike rate of 92.5, Australia’s former one-day supremo Michael Bevan (196 innings at 53.58), his successor in the role of Aussie ‘finisher’ Mike Hussey (137 innings at 50.70) and two of the protagonists from England’s ill-fated ODI series against India.
MS Dhoni’s (175 innings at 51.55) efforts against England, in which he went the whole series without being dismissed, rightly sparked universal praise, but the other member of the exclusive club, England’s No.3 Jonathan Trott (39 innings at 51.37), still finds himself the victim of opprobrium. So, why is Trott subjected to such criticism, and, perhaps more importantly, is it warranted?
Firstly, it’s important to make the point that I regard Dhoni as currently the finest one-day batsman in the world. Whether he is embellishing an innings, as he did in Hyderabad and Kolkata, or expertly timing a tricky run-chase, as he did in the World Cup final and the tight finish in the third match of the series Mohali, Dhoni remains remarkably cool under pressure and always backs himself to score the runs needed to win a match or set an imposing target.
Trott is not even close to being as multi-faceted a one-day batsman as Dhoni. The Warwickshire right-hander only knows how to play one way and even his biggest supporters would admit his approach is a case of substance over style; but the criticism levelled at Trott after the defeat in Mohali was staggering.
Trott scored 98 not out from 116 balls at a decent enough strike-rate of 84.50 and anchored England to a total of 298, thanks to a stand with Samit Patel that realised 103 runs in the last 11.5 overs. This should have been enough to beat India and were it not for a shocking performance behind the stumps from Craig Kieswetter and some wayward bowling, England would have surely won. Indeed, this was the only game in which the tourists competed to the end, and Trott’s innings was perhaps the only thing saving them from another humiliating defeat.
With regard to strike-rate, Trott’s career rate of 78.51 is markedly lower than Dhoni, Amla and Hussey’s, but is interestingly four runs higher than Bevan’s – although it has to be conceded that the one-day game today is a different beast to the one in which the left-handed New South Welshman so excelled. In comparison to his teammates, Trott’s strike-rate is as good as Alastair Cook’s and better than that of Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara.
So, why all the animosity towards Trott? Well, this can probably be partly explained by the fact he only seems to have one gear and doesn’t seem able to step up the pace during the critical Powerplay overs. His boundary count is certainly lower than most other top-order batsmen, but Trott’s job is surely to let England’s more natural strokemakers bat around him – if he scores 80 at his usual career strike-rate, then the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan should be able to help take England to potentially matchwinning totals in excess of 300.
The problem is not Trott; it is elsewhere. Morgan’s innovative strokeplay was sorely missed in India and with Pietersen still in a trough in the 50-over form of the game (although there were signs of recovery in Delhi and Mohali), there was no one else to play the creative forcing role – Bopara retreated within himself, Craig Kieswetter is still a work in progress and Jonny Bairstow is only just embarking on his international career. Whilst Dhoni had the likes of Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina to keep their foot on the gas at the other end, Trott was not so fortunate and given that he lacks Dhoni’s repertoire, he is not the sort of batsman who can do it all on his own in one-day cricket.
When Andy Flower and Cook sit down to discuss what went wrong in India, the one place they shouldn’t be looking is in Trott’s direction. Whatever you might hear, the embarrassing 5-0 whitewash was certainly not Trott’s fault.
David Green is the warped mind behind The Reverse Sweep cricket blog and regards Douglas Jardine as his ultimate cricket hero. You can follow David on Twitter @TheReverseSweep