Harry Trott

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Harry Trott
Australia
Personal information
Full name	George Henry Stevens Trott
Nickname	Harry
Born	5 August 1866(1866-08-05)
	Collingwood, Victoria, Australia
Died	10 November 1917 (aged 51)
	Middle Park, Victoria, Australia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Role	All-rounder
Batting style	Right-hand
Bowling style	Right-arm leg-spin
International information
Test debut (cap 53)	16 July 1888: v England
Last Test	26 February 1898: v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1886–1908	Victoria
Career statistics
	Tests	FC
Matches	24	222
Runs scored	921	8804
Batting average	21.92	23.54
100s/50s	1/4	9/41
Top score	143	186
Balls bowled	1891	18633
Wickets	29	386
Bowling average	35.13	25.12
5 wickets in innings	0	17
10 wickets in match	0	2
Best bowling	4/71	8/63
Catches/stumpings	21/0	183/0
As of 26 February 2008 Source: [[1]]

George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott (5 August 1866 – 10 November 1917) was an Australian Test cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "... it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of human nature".^[1] After a period of some instability and indiscipline in Australian cricket, he was the first of a line of assertive Australian captains that included Joe Darling, Monty Noble and Clem Hill, who restored the prestige of the Test team. Respected by teammates and opponents alike for his cricketing judgement, he was quick to pick up a weakness in an opponent. A right-hand batsman, Trott was known for his sound defence and vigorous hitting. His slow leg spin bowling was often able to deceive batsmen through subtle variations of pace and flight, but allowed opposition batsmen to score quickly.

Trott made his Test debut in 1888 and in total he toured England four times; 1888, 1890, 1893 and 1896, scoring over 1000 runs on each occasion. For the tour in 1896, Trott was elected captain by his team-mates. Despite England winning the series two Test to one and retaining the Ashes, Trott's ability as a captain was highly regarded. In the return series in Australia in 1897–98, Trott's team was more successful, winning the series 4 Tests to 1 and regaining the Ashes. At a time when the federation of the Australian colonies was under discussion, the victory saw Trott praised as a "national institution" and his team as having "done more for the federation of Australian hearts than all the big delegates put together."^[1]

A severe mental illness abruptly ended the Test career of Trott at the age of 31. After a series of seizures in 1898, he suffered from insomnia, apathy and memory loss. Failing to recover lucidity, he was committed to a psychiatric hospital for over 400 days. After he was discharged, he eventually returned to cricket, eventually playing first-class cricket again for his state, Victoria and playing at a consistently high level for his club, South Melbourne. A postman by trade, after retirement from cricket Trott served as a selector for the Victorian team.

[edit] Early life and career

Born in Collingwood, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Trott was the third of eight children born to accountant Adolphus Trott and his wife Mary-Ann (née Stephens).^[2][3] His younger brother Albert also became a Test cricketer. The siblings played their junior cricket with the local Capulet club.^[2] Harry transferred to South Melbourne, which played in Melbourne's pennant competition, after scouts for the club noticed him playing park cricket.^[1] In his first season, the 18-year-old Trott recorded the best batting average and bowling average for the team.^[3]

Trott made his first-class début for Victoria against an "Australian XI" on New Year's day 1886, scoring four and 18 not out.^[4] Two months later, he played his first inter-colonial match, against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Batting, he scored 54 runs; his innings included a memorable hit over the leg side boundary from the bowling of leading Test all-rounder George Giffen, and he captured seven wickets for the match with his bowling.^[1][5] In 1886–87, Trott hit a double century for South Melbourne in a match against St Kilda^[6] and appeared for Victoria against Alfred Shaw's touring English team, claiming four wickets for 125 runs (4/125).^[7] During the next summer, he played for a non-representative "Australian XI" against Arthur Shrewsbury's XI and George Vernon's XI, two English teams touring Australia simultaneously.^[8][9] His chances for inclusion in the Australian squad for the forthcoming tour of England were enhanced when a number of leading players made themselves unavailable.^[10] However, Trott's batting credentials were modest: he had scored only one half-century in 29 first-class innings.^[11]At this point, Trott had enjoyed more success with his bowling. Prior to the Australian team departing for England, a change to the leg before wicket (LBW) law that would aid bowlers of Trott's style seemed imminent. The former Australian player Tom Horan wrote: "There is no bowler in England who has such a fast leg-break, and on a fine, firm pitch many a batsman has saved his wicket by his legs or body in opposing Trott's deliveries."^[12]

[edit] Test cricket

[edit] First tours of England

Included in the Australian team to tour England in 1888, Trott made an inauspicious Test debut in the First Test at Lord's Cricket Ground, recording a duck in the first innings, making three runs in the second, and he did not bowl.^[13] The Australians won the match by 62 runs, only their second Test match victory in England.^[14] England won the remaining two Test matches of the series by convincing margins and Trott failed to pass 20 in an innings, or take a wicket.^[15] However, his performances in the other matches of the season prompted Wisden Cricketers Almanack to write that he, "... amply and fully justif[ied] his selection by scoring the highly creditable total of 1212 runs, with an average of over 19 per innings", and that his fielding was "excellent at point".^[15] Wisden was less complimentary about his bowling: "We have no great opinion of Trott's leg break bowling, and think it probably too slow to be effectual against good batsmen." Trott's opportunities were limited as his teammates Charles Turner and John Ferris, "monopolised the bowling".^[15] On his return to Australia, Trott scored 172 runs for an Australian XI against New South Wales, his maiden century in first-class cricket.^[16] The innings proved to be the highlight of a successful season for Trott as he posted 507 runs (at 39.00 average) and 25 wickets (at 17.44 average). Another good all-round season in 1889–90 ensured his place for the next trip to England.

Trott was an outstanding fielder, usually at point

The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced.^[17] The team missed the all-round ability of George Giffen who had refused to tour, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success.^[18] The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9.^[17] Trott scored 1,211 first-class runs (at 20.87 average) with a highest score of 186 against Cambridge University Past and Present^[19][20] and captured 20 wickets.^[21] Disappointed by Trott's performances, Wisden felt that he, "... barely maintained the reputation he had so honestly gained during the tour of 1888 ... it cannot be said that he came up to expectations."^[22]

[edit] Australian revival and Wisden cricketer of the year

In 1891–92, Lord Sheffield's team (captained by WG Grace) toured Australia, the first English side to do so in four years. The presence of Grace contributed to a revival of interest in the game that had waned due to a surfeit of international tours and indifferent performances by the Australian team.^[23] The Australians won the series 2–1 to regain The Ashes.^[24] In the first Test at Melbourne, Trott scored three and 23, but had greater impact with the ball. Requiring 213 runs for victory, England's score reached 60 when their first two batsmen were dismissed. The Australian captain Jack Blackham then gambled by calling on Trott's often inaccurate bowling. Trott took two quick wickets and the English innings never recovered.^[25] In returning 3/52 for the innings, Wisden noted that Trott "bowled admirably".^[26] The remaining two Tests were less productive for Trott: he finished with 48 runs (at an average of 8.00) and 6 wickets (at an average of 35.00) for the series.^[27][28]

A reorganisation of Australian cricket took place in the wake of the tour. The first national body to control the game, the Australasian Cricket Council (ACC), was formed to co-ordinate the Australian Test team. Previously, private entrepreneurs and the players themselves organised international cricket. Lord Sheffield donated money to the ACC, which was used to purchase a trophy for the champion domestic team. Trott appeared in Victoria's inaugural Sheffield Shield match, against New South Wales in December 1892. He scored 63 and 70 not out in a winning team. The ACC appointed Trott as one of the six players to select the touring team for England.^[29]

The Australian team toured England in 1893 to compete for the Ashes. The English won the series one Test to nil, with two drawn to recover the Ashes.^[30] Playing in all three Tests, Trott scored 146 runs in the series at an average of 29.20 and in all first-class matches he scored 1269 runs.^[31][32] While Trott did not take a wicket in the Tests, he took 38 wickets in all first-class matches that season.^[33][34] In the Second Test at the Oval, Trott scored 92 runs in the second innings after the Australians were forced to follow-on (bat again); an innings described as "really superb cricket" and "the finest exhibition he has ever given in England". England, regardless, still won the match by an innings.^[35][36] Trott was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.^[37] Wisden noted that Trott "batted uncommonly well — much better than in 1890" but that when bowling he "did a good many brilliant things against the weaker teams, but he was nearly always expensive and very rarely successful when opposed to batsmen of high class."^[30]

[edit] The Trott brothers

The Australian team pictured during the summer of 1894–95. Harry Trott is at the far left of the middle row, and his younger brother Albert is seated at front, on the right.

Andrew Stoddart led his English team to Australia in 1894–95 to defend the Ashes. A feature of the summer was the emergence of Trott's younger brother, Albert. Playing for Victoria against the touring English, the Trott brothers claimed twelve wickets and held eight catches between them; Harry scored 63 in the second innings. During the second innings of the traditional Christmas fixture against New South Wales, Albert claimed five wickets, took three catches (two from Harry's bowling) and made a run out.^[38] In between these two games, England won the First Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground—a remarkable turnaround after the Australians had forced them to follow-on—bowling the Australians out for 166 in the second innings.^[39] The Second Test at the MCG was also won by the English; Trott scoring 95 runs in the Australian second innings.^[40] Attempting to stay in the series, Australia decided to revamp their team for the next Test at the Adelaide Oval and omitted their most successful bowler, Charles Turner. Albert Trott was one of the four inclusions and Harry returned to the opening position.

In a match played in intense heat, Harry Trott made 48 on the opening day before he was run out. Albert was the dominant player of the match with innings of 38 not out and 72 not out (from the number ten position), and a bowling return of 8/43 in England's second innings. Australia won the match by 382 runs.^[41] In a Sheffield Shield match that followed, the Trotts extricated Victoria from a difficult situation. Chasing 155 to win, New South Wales fell for 99 with Albert taking four wickets and Harry five.^[42] In the Fourth Test at Sydney, Australia batted first and scored 284 runs (Albert Trott 85 not out) before England were bowled out for 65 and 72 on a wicket affected by heavy rain. Opening the bowling in the first innings, Harry Trott dismissed Archie MacLaren, Johnny Briggs and Stoddart.^[43]

The fluctuating fortunes of the Test series created immense interest in the deciding Test at Melbourne. Spectators arrived from all over the country, with special trains laid on from Adelaide and Sydney.^[44] Trott's all-round contribution was 42 runs in both innings, six wickets and two catches, but England won the Test by chasing and as a result the series and the Ashes, three Tests to two.^[45][46] In England even, "the interest was greater than had ever been felt in matches played away from [England]"^[47]

[edit] Captain of Australia

Trott was elected captain by his fellow players for the Australian team's tour of England in 1896.^[1] The team included a number of first-time tourists: Clem Hill, Joe Darling, Frank Iredale, Jim Kelly, Charles Eady and Alf Johns with Albert Trott a controversial omission.^[2][48] The First Test, played at Lord's saw England bowl Australia out in an hour and a quarter for 53 runs in the first innings on a pitch thought to be good for batting.^[49] Batting, England made 292 in reply; Trott taking 2 wickets for 15 runs.^[50] In their second innings, Australia scored 347 with Trott making 143 in a partnership of 221 runs with Syd Gregory, who made 103.^[50] Wisden stated that the pair's batting would "as long as cricket is played...cause the match to be remembered".^[49] Trott's first Test century was not enough to prevent an English victory by 6 wickets.^[50] In the Second Test at Old Trafford, Australia once again batted first, scoring 412 runs; Iredale making 108 and Trott 53.^[51] In the England first innings, Trott opened the bowling with his own loopy leg-spinners.^[1] It was unusual for a leg-spinner to take the new ball, but the move—"a stroke of genius" according to Wisden—was successful as he dismissed Stoddart and W. G. Grace cheaply, both stumped.^[52] England made 231 runs and was forced to follow on, scoring 305 runs in the second innings, K. S. Ranjitsinhji making 154 not out. In a tense finish, Australia made the 125 runs needed for victory with three wickets in hand.^[52] On a pitch affected by rain, England won the series and the Ashes, defeating Australia in the Third Test by 66 runs; Australia were bowled out for 44 runs in the second innings, at one stage having lost 9 wickets for 25.^[53]

Trott made 1297 runs and took 44 wickets in first-class matches on the tour.^[54][55] Of his batting Wisden said "Trott's average is a little disappointing, but when a special effort was required he was not often at fault." and he bowled "on a good many occasions with fair results".^[56] However it was as a captain that Trott earned most plaudits. Wisden rated Trott as "with the exception of [Billy Murdoch], ... incomparably the best captain the Australians had ever had in this country."^[56]

He was by no means anxious for the post, but almost from the first match it was perfectly clear that he was in every way fitted for it. Of course the continuous success of his side made his duties far more pleasant and easy than those of some previous captains, but we feel quite sure that in a season of ill-fortune he would have earned just as great a reputation. Blessed with a temper that nothing could ruffle, he was always master both of himself and his team whatever the position of the game. More than that his judgement in changing the bowling was rarely or never at fault.

—Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, ^[56]

[edit] "A national institution"

Harry Trott

Trott retained the captaincy when Andrew Stoddart returned to Australia with his English team in 1897–98. Stoddart's team got away to a good start when they won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets, K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring 175 runs.^[57] With Joe Darling, Trott devised a plan to curb Ranjitsinhji's run scoring. A exponent of the leg-glance, "Ranji" would take a last look at the field before he took guard. Taking advantage of this fact, after he took strike, the Australians deliberately weakened the off side with two men placed about 10 metres (33 ft) away from him. Bowling a leg side line, the Australians aimed for a catch from a shot played to that side.^[48] Darling said of the plan, "As soon as he had his last look and the bowler was at the point of delivering the ball, we shifted positions by a few yards, sometimes one way, sometimes the other. Occasionally, only one would move and sometimes none would move. [...] This eventually put him clean off his game."^[48] The English captain Archie MacLaren agreed saying, "Ranji is in a blue funk".^[48] Regardless of the tactics, Ranji made 457 runs at an average of 50.77 for the Test series.^[58]

Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs with Trott scoring 79 runs.^[59] The Third and Fourth Tests were both won by Australia as they retrieved the Ashes.^[60] The Fifth and final Test in Sydney would be Trott's last. In the Sydney heat, Australia won the Test by 6 wickets but Trott had an attack of sunstroke. This caused him to lose the sight in one eye before his last Test innings, where he made 18 runs.^[1] In a review of the Test series Wisden noted that "the Australians owed much to the unfailing skill and tact of Trott as a captain."^[60]

During the course of the Test series, a major convention was in progress to discuss the proposed federation of the Australian colonies. However, the victory over England dominated the attention of the Australian public and some newspapers decried the focus on cricket when important matters were being discussed. Another editor remarked in defence of the public, "We believe that Harry Trott and his ten good men and true have done more for the federation of Australian hearts than all the big delegates put together".^[1] In reply to complaints about leave granted to Trott to play cricket, his proud employers at the Post office responded "Harry Trott is a national institution."^[3] Passers-by, including men and their families, would stop and look outside Trott's home in Albert Park "with the deference of worshippers at a shrine", in the words of cricket writer Ray Robinson.^[1]

[edit] Illness and recovery

Less than six months after leading his team to victory over England, Trott endured a severe mental illness.^[3] While visiting his mother on 8 August 1898, Trott collapsed and lost consciousness. Later, on the train home with his wife, he had another convulsive fit and yet another at 10pm that evening, in the presence of a doctor. Trott passed in and out of consciousness over the next four weeks, unable to work or even communicate.^[3] His supporters raised ₤453 to send him for two weeks at a private retreat at Woodend, a small town north-west of Melbourne. The treatment was unsuccessful and Trott continued to suffer from insomnia, memory loss and apathy.^[3]

Willsmere, the former Kew Asylum building, in modern times

As Trott's illness precluded his selection for the 1899 Australian team to England, the Australian captaincy passed to Joe Darling. On 8 May 1899, Trott was committed to the Kew Asylum, a psychiatric hospital in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.^[3] The facility was opened in 1871 in an era when large asylums were in vogue. By the time Trott was admitted, expert opinion had changed; in January 1898 The Argus reported that a specialist claimed the asylum was more likely to make a patient, "just mad enough to be put under restraint", that is worse rather than better.^[3] Trott was recorded as suffering "dementia" and "alcoholism", although there is little empirical evidence for either diagnosis. The cricket writer Gideon Haigh suggests that his symptoms would probably be identified in modern times as depressive psychosis and treated with antipsychotics or electroconvulsive therapy.^[3]

Doctors noted that Trott continually stood in one place and, "... refuses to converse not appearing to be able to follow what is said to him ... he does not rouse up when subjects are spoken of that formerly he was interested in".^[3] Attempting to reach him, doctors sent Trott to play cricket which he did in a, "mechanical, indifferent fashion". In a departure from normal hospital procedure, Trott was allowed newspapers reporting the details of Darling's Australian side in England; this left Trott unmoved. Ben Wardill, a friend and the secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, visited in November 1899 but Trott did not recognise him.^[3] A fellow patient, when released, wrote of Trott: "Here is a well-known cricketer, whom we once treated as a hero. But alas! Like everything else, times have changed and he is almost forgotten."^[3]

In February 1900, Trott played in a cricket match for the asylum team against the North Melbourne Rovers club. To the astonishment of his treating doctors and his teammates, he scored 98 runs in 40 minutes, including 20 fours and a six.^[3] While his doctors remained cautious about his chances of recovery, Trott played in further matches against other visiting teams and in April 1900, he took a hat-trick against a team from the Commercial Travellers Association. Declared to be "recovered", Trott was discharged after spending 400 days at Kew Asylum. He returned to cricket but was unable to recapture the form that made him captain of his country.^[3]

Following his discharge, Trott's employer—the Postmaster-General's Department—transferred him to the post office in rural Bendigo to aid his convalescence.^[61] In 1902–03, he turned up uninvited to a Bendigo United Cricket Club practice session and asked to join in. In 1904, having returned to Melbourne, Trott was selected to captain Victoria against Plum Warner's touring English.^[1] His final first-class match was in 1907–08 where he took 5 wickets for 116 runs against another touring English team.^[1] Trott continued playing club cricket for South Melbourne and aged 44, he again had the best batting and bowling averages for the club, for the fifth time as a batsman, the third as a bowler.^[1]

[edit] Outside cricket

Modern photo of Trott's house

Trott spent his entire working life in the Post Office, employed as a postman and mail sorter.^[3] He married Violet Hodson in Fitzroy on 17 February 1890 and the couple had one son.^[2] In 1911, Trott joined the Victorian cricket team selection panel after Hugh Trumble resigned to take his post as secretary of Melbourne Cricket Club. Trott's standing in the cricket community was such that the other candidate for the position withdrew rather than oppose him.^[62] In 1912, Trott took the side of the "Big Six", the Australian cricketers opposed to the newly formed Australian Board of Control for International Cricket's attempt to wrest control of touring Australian sides from the players. At an "indignation meeting" at the Athenaeum Hall on Collins Street in Melbourne, the Argus reported Trott as saying that "to say he was disgusted with the Board of Control was to put it mildly" and that "He would like to shake hands with the six men who had stood out against the Board".^[63]

Trott died of Hodgkin's lymphoma, aged 51, in his home in inner suburban Albert Park on 9 November 1917 and was buried at Brighton Cemetery.^[2][64] His grandson, Stuart Trott, played 200 games for St Kilda and Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League between 1967 and 1977.^[65] The South African-born English cricketer Jonathan Trott claims a familial relationship of some kind to Harry and Albert Trott.^[66]

Until 2005, Trott's club team, South Melbourne Cricket Club was based at Harry Trott Oval in Albert Park^[67] while Bendigo United Cricket Club, for whom Trott played in 1902, still play at the Harry Trott Oval in the Bendigo suburb of Kennington.^[1][68][69]

[edit] Style and personality

Harry Trott's Test career batting graph.

Of average height—5 feet 9 inches (175 cm)—Trott weighed 11 stone (154lb/70 kg) when he made his Test cricket début. By his mid-twenties, Trott was noticeably larger and by the end of his Test career he weighed in at 16 stone (224lb/102 kg).^[1]

The authoritative cricket journal Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, in an obituary, wrote "Australia has produced greater cricketers than Harry Trott, but in his day he held a place in the front rank of the world's famous players. He was a first-rate bat, a fine field at point, and his leg breaks made him a very effective change bowler."^[70] As a batsman, Trott scored his runs mostly in front the wicket. He often lifted his on-drives and was an exponent of the late cut.^[1] George Giffen said of Trott, "On a good wicket, I have seen Harry Trott adopt forcing tactics worthy of the big hitter, and in the very next match play keeps on a difficult pitch with wonderful skill."^[71] Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described Trott as "one of the soundest [Australian batsman], combining as he does vigorous hitting with a strong, watchful defence."^[37]

Trott was able to obtain turn from all types of pitches bowling his loopy leg spinners, through varying his pace and flight.^[1] He was noted for giving young batsmen a full toss on the leg side, allowing the batsman to hit it to the boundary. The next ball would seem identical, but for a subtle change in the position of a fielder, resulting in a catch and the comment, "That first ball was to give you confidence, son. the second to teach you a lesson."^[72] Warwick Armstrong, a childhood admirer and later team-mate of Trott said "Trott had an almost uncanny knowledge of batsman who were likely to succumb to his wiles and after he had met with a success, he would at once take himself off and put on some other bowler of a different type"^[73] Wisden thought his bowling was "too slow to be effectual against good batsmen"^[15] and "that though he may now and then get a wicket, runs are sure to come at the rate of six or eight an over."^[37]

Clem Hill said, "As a captain Harry Trott was in a class by himself—the best I ever played under. Harry was quick to grasp a situation. He saw an opponent's weakness in a second. [...] Time and time again, he got a champion batsman's wicket by putting on a bowler he knew the batsman did not like."^[1] The English batsman KS Ranjitsinhji considered Trott as a captain was "without a superior anywhere today".^[3] The sporting newspaper, The Referee wrote "His bowlers felt he understood the gruelling nature of their work and that they had his sympathy in the grimmest of battles. Some English professional cricketers thought less of Trott's captaincy; Wicket-keeper William Storer said, "I like a captain to have a settled plan, [Trott] just seemed to do whatever he thought of at the moment."^[1]

Trott's sense of humour was well-known. He was the originator of the persistent myth that workers at the Sheffield steelworks would generate plumes of smoke when the Australians were batting at Headingley, in order to reduce the quality of the light.^[1] When Australia was playing the Gentlemen of Philadelphia in the United States, a local reporter asked Trott why Australians did not play baseball. He replied, "Running around in circles makes us giddy".^[1] When Trott, a humble postman, met the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1896, his team-mates admired his natural ease of manner. Given a cigar by the Prince, Trott simply smoked it, to the surprise of those who thought a royal souvenir was possibly worth keeping. With this in mind, Trott later played a practical joke. Gathering cigar butts on board the ship before disembarking in Australia, he distributed them to his friends claiming it was the one given to him by the Prince of Wales; begging the recipients not to tell others in case it provoked jealousy.^[1] Trott was extremely fond of hats; a team-mate said that he was "the only man I have seen who, in the nude, had to have a hat on his head".^[3]

Jack Pollard wrote "It was said that [Trott] never made an enemy and was universally admired."^[71] His rival, England captain Archie MacLaren said "I would give anything to play the game as keenly and yet as light-heartedly as Trott's lads did".^[74]

The personal popularity that Harry Trott enjoyed...was remarkable. One is inclined to think that no Australian captain before or since, was liked so much by his opponents. By sheer force of character he overcame the disadvantages involved in lack of education, and won the warm regard of men with whom, apart from the comradeship of the cricket field, he had nothing in common.

—Wisden Cricketers' Almanack obituary, ^[70]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Player Profile: Harry Trott from Cricinfo

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