England s game against Australia at the Oval on Thursday is perhaps their most eagerly anticipated game since the very same fixture four years ago. On that occasion a young South African, new to the test arena, rose to the occasion and hit a brilliant 158 to clinch the Ashes for England. With no Kevin Pietersen this time round, and with the rest of England s middle order misfiring, England has turned to another precocious South African talent. The question on all England cricket fans lips is whether Jonathan Trott will be able to take the pressure of the Ashes decider.
His 2009 record demonstrates he has the talent, 1013 runs at an average of 92.09, but he is untested at this level, bar from 11 runs against the West Indies in two Twenty20 Internationals in 2007. Australia may not have Warne, McGrath and co anymore, but walking out on your debut to potentially win the Ashes is intimidating enough as it is.
Many punters called for the return of Robert Key or even Mark Ramprakash their view being their experience would make up for a perceived lack of grit in England s middle order. The selectors however plumped for the Warwickshire man and all eyes will be on Trott as he makes his way to the crease to face his first ball in test cricket.
Jonathan Agnew, BBC Test Match Special s main commentator described Trott s selection as a huge gamble and many people were left less than satisfied at Geoff Miller s squad announcement. It was timely for Trott that he scored 126 the day before the squad was announced and, regardless of wheter they agreed with his inclusion in the team, England supporters across the land would dearly love to see him replicate that kind of innings at The Oval.
It may seem bizzare that an uncapped batsman makes his debut in such an important game, but the move shows consistency on the part of the England selectors who demonstrated that Trott was the next cab on the rank by picking him in the squad for the Headingley test. The pressure may very much be on Trott s shoulders, but he will relish the challenge, having waited six years since emmigrating to the UK to make his Test debut and everyone has to debut somewhere.
Another Warwickshire man will be sweating under the lid on Thursday; Ian Bell has had a chequered career for England, promising much but generally flattering to deceive. Undoubtedly a player of immense class, technically the most gifted in the England set up in the opinion of some, he has tended to score his runs when others in the team have prospered also. Not one of his eight centuries have come without someone else in the side getting to three figures as well.
As well as this his average of 25 against the Aussies does little to inspire confidence, and he is yet to make a century from the number 3 position, where it appears he will line up on Thursday. He has been dropped once before from the England team and returned to make hundreds in three consecutive matches, his performances since returning in place of Pietersen have again been underwhelming and England supporters are still waiting for his talent to shine through in terms of consistent run scoring.
Will he finally nail down the number 3 spot with a match winning performance at the Oval? One thing is for sure, when Trott and Bell take their guard, the nation s cricket fans will draw their breath in the hope that one or both of them take their chance to regain the Ashes for England.
Author Resource:
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