Jonathan Trott, the Rondebosch Boys High pupil who went on to represent England in 52 Tests, has announced his retirement from international cricket.
It marks the end of long fightback from a stress-related illness which saw him walk out of the England team in the traumatic Ashes series in Australia in 2014.
But he returned to form and showed his determination to redeem himself in the England Lions tour of South Africa last year where he made an unbeaten 211 in the first four-day match against South Africa A in Paarl. That secured him a spot on the West Indies tour where he was preferred as Alastair Cook’s opening partner ahead of Adam Lyth despite only previously opening once in his Test career.
That ended in tears. He made just 72 runs in six innings; ending with 0 and 9 in Barbados.
‘This was a tough decision to make but I don’t feel my game is at the level you need to be at to play for England,’ he said. ‘I was honoured to be given the opportunity to come back and play international cricket again and I’m disappointed it didn’t work out.
‘I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me and given me the chance to represent England and to thank supporters for all their backing over the years. I also want to wish the lads all the very best for what will be an incredibly exciting summer.
‘I’ve had incredible highs and some real lows in an England shirt but wouldn’t change a thing. I look forward to continuing my career at Warwickshire.’
In his 52 Tests, he scored 3 835 runs at an average of 44.08. He also played 68 ODIs, scoring 2 819 at 51.25.
Trott graduated from Rondebosch to St Stithians to Stellenbosch University, representing South Africa at U15 and U19 level, Boland and Western Province before moving to England in 2002.
On his 2nd XI debut for Warwickshire, effectively a trial game, he scored a dominant 245 that suggested the arrival of a special talent. It was the highest score by a debutant in the history of Second XI Championship cricket and convinced Warwickshire to sign Trott, unlike Kevin Pietersen in a similar situation three years earlier.
