In ducked the ball into Jonathan Trott’s pads and up went the crooked finger of Billy Bowden. Trott dallied briefly to talk to his captain just in case there was scope for a review. It must have been a difficult moment for Alastair Cook.
These two have been through a lot together; at their best putting together a monumental stand against the Aussies in Brisbane five years ago; in recent months they might have shared the agonies of being under the microscope as the runs have dried up.
But Cook could offer no solace; however much he wanted to give his old mate one more chance he counselled against a review. And he was right to do so: the ball would have hit the middle of middle. Trott, however disorientated, must have recognised that too. Off he set and it seemed as if the crowd gave him a warm reception, which is odd for an opener dismissed for nine.
In the stands they knew that this was the end. They were saluting a batsman who had been an integral cog in the best side to represent England for decades.
Trott’s return has not worked out. He has tried, which was a perfectly rational thing to do. Otherwise he might have spent too many hours in his dotage wondering if he could have played again at Test level after the trauma of Brisbane 18 months ago. He probably knows the answer now.
The first-innings dismissal to Shannon Gabriel’s bouncer had rung the alarm bells. In the second he faced Jerome Taylor most of the time. Taylor did not attempt a single bouncer for there was just enough swing in the air. Trott lurched down the track and clipped straight balls through mid-wicket three times. He has always moved idiosyncratically forward against fast bowlers, but never so far or so desperately as now. Taylor still shunned the bouncer; he kept the ball full and Trott, having stationed himself bang in front of the stumps, missed the inswinger. And he was gone – for good.
So once the dust has settled after what is proving a mesmerising Test match, Trott deserves congratulations on what has been an outstanding Test career, in which he has been courageous and single-minded in his resolve to play his own way.
