His South African mentors on his journey from precocious talent to potential Ashes saviour
Alex Brown17-Aug-2009Kenny Jackson – former Boland and Western Province allrounder; Trott’s half-brother
People have been asking me all week whether I’m excited, and the honest answer is no, I’m not. I have seen him speaking about his call-up and all the excitement that you would normally associate with playing your first Test is really a peripheral part of the bigger picture. A lot has happened in his life, and this is the next stage. It’s not especially surprising that this has happened. It wasn’t a lucky selection; he pretty much kicked the door down.He is becoming a very level-headed young man. He has been in and out of the England squad enough times now not to have rookie jitters. I don’t think the situation will overwhelm him. He’s in the form of his life and he is certainly good enough. He can walk on water at the moment. He won’t say it, but what else could the selectors do? They tried to get it wrong in the last Test and they succeeded by getting whipped in two and a half days. Now they have got their selection right.He was dead keen to become a professional cricketer, and nine or so years ago, when he made the decision to move, the county system was very strong. Bob Woolmer had quite a big influence on getting him over to England and to Warwickshire. Jonathan was playing a stint in the Hague at the time, and the goal was to get a few trials in England while he was there. Through Bob and his connections, he ended up at Warwickshire.He played representative age-group hockey, but it was always going to be cricket for him. He did not always have great self-belief, but he has done a lot of growing up in the last few years. He has put a lot of those doubts behind him, and I think Ashley Giles and Warwickshire have got to take a lot of the credit for that. Getting married earlier this year was also a big development for him. He’s turned the corner in all areas of his life. It’s been a culmination of things. All the elements have come together.As the bigger brother, I remember going to the nets and his father, Ian, would occasionally give me some throw-downs. When Jonathan wanted to bat, you would always give yourself a backdoor exit strategy or else you would be there bowling to him all day. I remember one time I told him “a few more” and that “out is out”, and to speed things up a bit I started throwing him balls on a length so he would hit a catch back to me. But he didn’t. He just kept hitting balls on the up. I asked him why he was playing that shot. He didn’t know the terminology for what he was doing, but just said to me, “If I hit back a catch to you the session is over.” And the cheeky little bugger kept hitting on the up.Mickey Arthur – current South Africa coach
I always thought Jonathan Trott was a very good player. He was a young player who came through our system; played Western Province schools, played South Africa Under-19s, played for Boland and Western Province provincially at senior level and always looked a really good player, looked as if he was really going to crack on. I think he was in the same Under-19 side as Graeme Smith, Jacques Rudolph and Johan Botha, so he always had a lot of talent. My assistant coach Vincent Barnes coached him at Western Province and predicted that the boy did have a future. He’s done that pretty well in England.He would have been there or thereabouts (in South Africa). He would have been a really good franchise player. I suspect he would have been a South Africa A player right now, but he would have battled to get into our top six at the minute. With the calibre of player we have in our top six, I think we’re pretty much settled for a while. I suspect he would have been there as reserve strength.I must say it is a bold move and I admire England for making it. If England decided the Ashes were the be-all and end-all, I guess they could have gone with a Ramprakash or Trescothick – but there’s no longevity in that. I suspect Andy Flower has got his vision. He and Andrew Strauss have sat down and put a plan together, much like Graeme and I have done. They’ve looked at players that they thought could fit the bill, players they want to see develop and make England stronger down the line. I suspect bringing in a guy like Jonathan Trott is part of a long-term plan for them and I applaud and admire them for doing it. They’ve stayed true to their plan and they haven’t panicked.Eric Simons – former South Africa allrounder and coach
“I don’t think the situation will overwhelm him. He’s in the form of his life and he is certainly good enough. He can walk on water at the moment. He won’t say it, but what else could the selectors do?”Kenny Jackson, Trott’s half-brother
“Precocious talent” is an overused term, but that’s exactly what he was. For whatever reason, the game of cricket back then felt some kind of need to contain players like him – to clip his wings a little bit – and if he had been born into this era he might have flourished a little faster.He always had the ability to dominate attacks, and to make batting on difficult wickets look easy. There was an underlying self-belief there. Occasionally he looked like he got bored – trying to do too much or trying to score too quickly – but he’s addressed that as he’s got older. He has built on that self-belief – not arrogance – and become a more complete batsman.It’s not for me to say what motivated him to go to England, but there was certainly the idea that county cricket was the place where you could make it big and make a name for yourself in the global game.Steve Palframan – former South Africa batsman and current Cape Cobras selector
He always looked a special kid. When he left school, he was a little on the cocky side, but right the way through his career in South Africa he was always a batsman who seemed to have a lot of time and self-belief. Sometimes he needed (Kenny Jackson) to sit him down and say, “Just listen for a change.” To some he came across as arrogant, but he was always a competitor.In his debut season, some opposition players tried to pick him as someone they could push over. He always gave it back. Not only would he stand his ground and engage in the verbals, he would invariably back it up with the bat. He has what we call , which is presence and attitude. He was always one to puff out his chest.He has obviously been on England’s radar for a while, and the stats don’t lie. The fact that he is next in line over there doesn’t really seem up for debate. He was ready when he took the step from juniors to first-class cricket, and I’m sure he will be ready for this. This is something he has been preparing for and planning for many years. He never really gave himself a chance when he played those Twenty20 innings for England, and I remember thinking at the time, “Come on, Trotty, you’re better than that.”I thought at the time that exploring the Kolpak route was a good move for him. It was around the same time that Boland merged with Western Province, and there could have been a situation where Trotty would not have been an everyday player, with the combining of the two squads. I’m not going to say that he wouldn’t have been chosen for South Africa at some stage, but I do think the move to England was a good one for him. I always thought he would come through.