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The curious case of Jonathan Trott

Jonathan Trott must sometimes wonder what else he needs to do in order to gain universal approval in the country he plays in. As Barney Ronay rightly points out (though in a slightly different context to what I'm writing here), Trott has more often than not been the most reliable player England have had in years, even more so than Anderson or Cook and is the fulcrum of the current batting line-up.

Sample his stats alone. He is the first England batsmen to average over 50 in Test matches (min of 25 matches played) since 1968 (the fact that he is 7th on the overall list closely followed by Cook and Pietersen is one of the main reasons for England's success in the last few years). An Ashes century on debut, an overall average of 80+ against Australia, and an average of 60+ in matches won underline his value to the team tellingly. Add to that the fact that he also averages over 50 in ODIs and is the only English batsmen to ever do so (Pietersen who's next on the list is more than 10 runs behind him). In any other country he would easily be MVP but in England, he only gets a few pieces of grudging admiration and mostly comments on how slow his batting his, and how boring he is to watch. Reminds me of another famous #3 who also divided opinions for a long time for similar reasons.

England need to appreciate what they have. If in doubt, a look at their current opposition's struggles with the one-down spot will remind them why.

p.s.: As I write this, Trott has got out for 48 in the first innings of the 2013 Ashes (bringing his average temporarily down below the 50 mark) and with it England have gone from 124/3 to 185/6.........

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