Forget the death of Colonel Gaddafi, the main topic of conversation on Twitter last night was Jonathan Trott.
Remarkably many were blaming him for England's defeat in Mohali despite Trott scoring 98 not out and leading England to 298 - their first decent batting effort of the series.
The main criticism seems to be that Trott can only bat in one gear. Well his unbeaten 98 came off 116 balls at a more than useful strike rate of 84.48, which is hardly shabby and his partnership with Samit Patel, which saw 103 runs added in 11.5 overs should have given England enough runs to win. Ajinkya Rahane's 91 came off 104 balls at a similar strike rate to Trott's of 87.5 and he was given the man of the match award.
Is it Trott's fault that Craig Kieswetter fluffed running out Mahendra Singh Dhoni? Or is it Trott's fault that Jade Dernbach bowled like a drain and conceded a wide and a no-ball off the penultimate over? And indeed is it Trott's fault that England's bowlers were generally poor and served up a tasty diet for the Indian batsmen?
Trott averages 53 in his one-day career at a decent enough strike rate of 78.58. It's time that people got off his back and admit that this time it simply wasn't Trott's fault.
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Kieswtter did a Kamran Akmal yesterday and that was cost the match. The English fielding certainly didn't help the cause...
Trott did well and for once it really isn't his fault.
Posted by: Christopher Poshin David | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 06:53
yeah, i'm not one to give Trott any stick -- he's the current World Player of the Year if I'm not mistaken?!
I do reckon we were a few runs light yesterday, though, to be honest. I wonder about the decision to bat first. We have a better record chasing of late, I believe, and I'm not sure we paced our innings perfectly, with hindsight.
Posted by: wilo | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 07:55
Blaming Trott is utterly ridiculous in the circumstances. Not that I have really heard many people doing so, but then I'm not on Twitter.
If we have a player who can be relied on to build a decent innings at a reasonable rate, others need to bat around him. His innings was exactly what was needed in this series.
The bowling was not up to scratch and the fielding effort was lousy.
Posted by: MartDawg | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 08:31
Another Trott fan comes out!
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 16:18
At least we made a game of it yesterday. After the first two matches that has to be considered progress!
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 16:20
You're right Christopher. Mr Kieswetter had a nightmare match - Craig's Cock-up rather than Trott's fault me thinks!
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 16:21
is it all trott's fault? yes. the sour faced yarpie cunt.
Posted by: bmc | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 18:27