Trott gets England off and running in right direction

Published on Saturday 14 November 2009 20:57

FINALLY, THE tour long awaited since those heady days in August when the Ashes were won has started. England are pitting themselves against the best in the world and on Friday night's form are prepared to slug it out with the bruisers from the Veld.

The first Twenty20 international was at the Wanderers ground, where South Africa and Australia both scored more than 400 runs in a 50-over match.

Hard hitting and plenty of sixes was demanded, neither of which England have been very good at for some time, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that the more aggressive attitudes developed during the Champions Trophy in September have continued and a couple of players have announced themselves as high class. This is the way of modern one-day cricket of both 20 and 50 overs. The slow accumulation is so irrelevant when strong blokes can consistently keep lifting the ball into the crowds. So to that end Paul Collingwood has a "superbat" for these games – basically one that helps him smash the ball – while more natural boundary hitters such as Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan are given complete license to bat as they wish. And it proved a compelling, almost heady mix.

It was the entrance of Trott, a former South African youth player, that actually announced the start of the trip. That means no disrespect to Joe Denly, whose first-ball dismissal got Trott to the crease, but it was his homecoming that had stirred up the emotions of the home crowd, media and team. He was greeted with the obvious bouncer by Charl Langeveld, ducked it, smiled and then batted with a simplicity that promises plenty of runs for England.

His technique is based on planting his front foot and when his timing or form is out then bowlers will trouble him, especially if they cut off the oxygen of his powerful scoring shots through midwicket, but so much of international cricket is about character and Trott has plenty of it. Tough, grizzled, hard, fiercely competitive, in fact everything that if they could inject it into the more aesthetically pleasing and technically superior Ian Bell would make him into one of the world's best players.

Trott was an excellent choice for the final Test in the summer and just like Kevin Pietersen, looks to have made himself a cornerstone of the batting line-up within a couple of innings. Another who might find himself promoted to longer forms of the game is the dazzlingly talented Morgan. A small, wiry powerhouse, he mixes classical cricket shots with deft sweeps, glides and the occasional audacious scoop to such effect that if he was Sri Lankan or Indian the world would be hailing his innovative genius. Apparently he played hurling in Ireland as a youngster and that accounts for his supple yet whipcord wrists and forearms. Not one player in the world has played a better shot than his six from the last over off Langeveld when he collapsed to his knees, allowed the ball to pass his leg side and then flicked it almost over the wicketkeeper's head to the stands.

This is why England should be optimistic. For years they have struggled in one-day cricket, trapped in old philosophies, ignoring power plays and fielding restrictions and fearing failure. No longer. They have adopted courage and craft and occasionally it will end in chaos and calamity. Who cares? The cricket they are starting to play now is more dynamic than anything seen from them in years.

Bring Pietersen back and suddenly the middle order looks solid and potentially dominant. Added to that the fielding was superb. Young bucks throwing themselves around the field wins games, as Alastair Cook proved with his diving stop in the final over before the rains.

The bowling, though, is a concern. England, especially without Andrew Flintoff, just do not take wickets consistency enough. Sajid Mahmood looked a yard short in pace and length, Tim Bresnan is a swing bowler lacking a yard himself in pace and Anderson was his usual mercurial self – some superb, some rubbish.

There is so much cricket these days that the sides that excel will have a battalion of seamers they can rotate and keep fresh, many of whom are wicket-takers and superb spinners that will need less rest. Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss have worked miracles in 12 months with the batting and fielding but to solve the bowling problem they will need to return to the traditional heartlands of English quickies and develop a conveyor belt.

Watch the next few one-day matches. The ball will travel high, wide and handsome into the bleachers. The good news is that some of it will be coming from English blades.