Video: Jonathan Trott picks Sachin Tendulkar, Waqar Younis and Alastair Cook in his all-time XI
(Video Courtesy – Lord’s Cricket Ground‘s Youtube Account)
Following the trend of both past and present players selecting their dream teams, former England batsman Jonathan Trott has chosen his All Time XI. In a video posted on Lord’s Cricket Ground’s official Youtube account, the 35-year old opened up on his favorite cricketers.
Making his Test debut in the 2009 Ashes series at The Oval, Trott went on to play more than 125 international matches across all three formats and scored over 6600 runs before retiring in May 2015 due to personal reasons.
For the opening partnership, he opted to combine Alastair Cook’s sturdy defense and Michael Slater’s flamboyant strokeplay. An under-rated Test batsman, the latter has 14 tons to his credit at the top of the order.
Trott said, “I have played a lot of cricket with Alastair, fantastic cricketer for England and hopefully will continue to be for a few more years. Michael Slater was a player whom I looked up to while growing up in South Africa and liked the way he attacked the bowlers. I (also) copied his technique little bit as a kid but I don’t think I did a good job of doing that.”
The middle-order sports a strong look with the likes of Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Steve Waugh featuring in it. Lauding the South African all-rounder as ‘the best cricketer whom he played against’, Trott believed that Kallis will also double up as the fifth bowling option.
On Tendulkar’s ability to inspire, he felt, “I have had the privilege of playing against him, a fantastic all-round player. We can see how he handled the pressure of playing for India, a nation with high expectations. The way in which he conducted himself is something all cricketers can look to emulate.”
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Highlighting Waugh’s ability to lead from the front, the Cape Town-born cricketer decided to hand over the captaincy mantle to the gritty Australian. As expected, Adam Gilchrist’s revolutionary style of batting earned him the wicket-keeper slot.
Looking to have all bases covered, Trott went for two spinners and as many pacers in his bowling attack. Due to their adaptability on different types of pitches, he settled on the prospect of Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan operating in tandem.
The new-ball will be taken care of by speedsters Waqar Younis and Allan Donald which should unnerve most top-order batsmen. Going back to his formative days, Trott cited the experience of facing Waqar in the county circuit whilst admitted to being lucky to be coached by Donald in Warwickshire.
Jonathan Trott’s All-Time XI: Alastair Cook, Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Steve Waugh (c), Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Waqar Younis, Allan Donald.