Harry Trott
Encyclopedia
George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott (5 August 1866 – 10 November 1917) was an Australian Test cricket
er 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". After a period of some instability and ill discipline in Australian cricket, he was the first in a succession 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 opponents. 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 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 Tests 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".
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, in time he returned to cricket, once again playing first-class cricket
for his state, Victoria
, and performing 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.
, an inner suburb of Melbourne
, Trott was the third of eight children for accountant Adolphus Trott and his wife Mary-Ann (née Stephens). His younger brother Albert
also became a Test cricketer. The siblings played their junior cricket with the local Capulet club. Harry transferred to South Melbourne
, which played in Melbourne's pennant competition
, after scouts for the club noticed him playing park cricket. In his first season, the 18-year-old Trott recorded the best batting average and bowling average
for the team.
Trott made his first-class
debut for Victoria
against an "Australian XI" on New Year's Day 1886, scoring four and 18 not out
. 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. In 1886–87, Trott hit a double century
for South Melbourne in a match against St Kilda
and appeared for Victoria against Alfred Shaw
's touring English team, claiming four wickets for 125 runs (4/125). 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. 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. However, Trott's batting credentials were modest: he had scored only one half-century in 29 first-class innings. 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."
, Trott was selected in the team for the First Test at Lord's
. He had an inauspicious Test debut: he made a duck
in the first innings and three runs in the second, and did not bowl. The Australians won the game by 62 runs, only their second Test match victory in England. However, England retained The Ashes by winning the remaining two Tests and Trott's influence on the series was negligible: he did not pass 20 in an innings, and he failed to take a wicket. Nevertheless, his performances in the other matches of the season prompted Wisden Cricketers Almanack to write that he, "... fully justif[ied] his selection by scoring the highly creditable total of 1,212 runs, with an average of over 19 per innings", and that his fielding
was "excellent at point". 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".
On his return to Australia, Trott's batting continued to improve. He scored 172 runs for an Australian XI against New South Wales
, his maiden century in first-class cricket. The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the innings "... stamped him as a batsman of the highest class". In first-class matches, Trott posted 507 runs (at 39.00 average) and claimed 25 wickets (at 17.44 average) for the summer, and hit a double century in a club match against Melbourne
. Another good all-round season in 1889–90 ensured his place for the next trip to England.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. 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. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trott scored 1,211 first-class runs (at 20.87 average) with a highest score of 186 against Cambridge University Past and Present, and captured 20 wickets. 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".
's team
(captained by W. G. 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. The Australians won the series 2–1 to regain The Ashes. 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 before 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. In returning 3/52 for the innings, Wisden noted that Trott "bowled admirably". 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.
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 effort. The ACC appointed Trott as one of the six players to select the touring team for England.
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. 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. While Trott did not take a wicket in the Tests, he took 38 wickets in all first-class matches that season. In the Second Test at the Oval
, Trott scored 92 runs in the second innings after the Australians were forced to follow-on
; 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. Trott was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. 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".
Andrew Stoddart
led an English team to Australia in 1894–95
to defend The Ashes. A feature of the summer was the emergence of Albert Trott
and the performance of the brothers in tandem. Playing for Victoria against the touring side, the Trotts 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
. In between these two games, England won the first Test at Sydney
—a remarkable turnaround after they had been forced to follow-on
—by bowling the Australians out for 166 in the second innings. The second Test at Melbourne
saw another English victory; Trott played a rearguard innings of 95 in the second innings, to no avail. Attempting to stay in the series, Australia dramatically revamped their team for the next Test at Adelaide
. Albert Trott, making his Test debut, was one of four inclusions while Harry was elevated to open the batting. In a match played in intense heat throughout, 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 (both scored from the number ten
position), and a bowling return of 8/43 in England's second innings. Australia won the match by 382 runs. 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. 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.
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. Harry Trott's all-round contribution was a score of 42 in each innings, six wickets and two catches, but England won The Ashes by chasing a target of 297 runs in the second innings, which they reached with six wickets in hand. Even in England, "the interest was greater than had ever been felt in matches played away from [England]".
During the following summer, Trott again acted as a Test selector, along with the incumbent Test captain George Giffen and former captain Percy McDonnell
. When choosing the Australian team for the previous tour of England, Giffen used his influence to ensure the selection of his younger brother, Walter
. The team chosen for the 1896 tour of England included a number of promising young players, including Joe Darling
and Clem Hill, both of whom went on to captain Australia. Albert Trott was a controversial omission, in light of performances in the previous Ashes series, but he accompanied the team on their voyage and later settled in England. He had a successful career with Middlesex
and appeared for England in two Test matches against South Africa
. The cricket historian David Frith
records that when the Trott brothers encountered each other on an English street, they merely exchanged acknowledging nods and kept walking.
While the team was en route to England, the players elected Trott as captain
ahead of George Giffen. On the opening day of the first Test at Lord's, England bowled Australia out in 75 minutes for only 53 runs on a pitch thought to be good for batting. In reply, England made 292 with Trott taking two wickets. In their second innings, Australia was still 177 runs in arrears with three wickets down when Syd Gregory
joined Trott at the crease. Their partnership
of 221 runs led Wisden to record that, "as long as cricket is played ... cause the match to be remembered". Trott's score of 143 (the only Test century
of his career) was not enough to prevent England winning by six wickets. In the second Test at Manchester, Australia again batted first, scoring 412 runs; Frank Iredale
making 108 and Trott 53. At the beginning of England's first innings, Trott opened the bowling with his flighted
leg-spin. 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 WG Grace for low scores. Both batsmen were deceived by Trott's flight and stumped by the wicket-keeper. England totaled 231 and, forced to follow on, scored 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. 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 nine wickets for 25.
Trott made 1297 runs and took 44 wickets in first-class matches on the tour. 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". 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".
Although the team was considered successful, in spite of the failure to recapture The Ashes, the problems between the players and the administrators continued. Before the team departed Australia, the players arbitrarily replaced one of the selected players without recourse to the ACC. After the final match in England, Trott and his players broke an agreement to return home in time for the 1896–97 Australian season. Instead, they organised matches in North America and New Zealand.
, the Australians aimed for a catch from a shot played to that side. 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." The English captain Archie MacLaren agreed saying, "Ranji is in a blue funk". Regardless of the tactics, Ranji made 457 runs at an average of 50.77 for the Test series.
Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs with Trott scoring 79 runs. The Third and Fourth Tests were both won by Australia as they retrieved The Ashes. 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. 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".
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." 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." Passers-by, including men and their families, would stop and look at Trott's home in Albert Park
"with the deference of worshippers at a shrine", in the words of cricket writer Ray Robinson
.
The impetus for federation did not extend to the administration of cricket, however. The ACC continued to attract criticism for being ineffectual and at a meeting of the Victorian Cricket Association
in July 1898, Trott (in his capacity as a delegate for the South Melbourne club) tabled a motion that Victoria secede from the ACC. Although the proposal was defeated by a single vote, Trott was one of twelve Test players who signed a letter to the ACC secretary calling for the disbanding of the organisation. Failing to win the support of the players, the ACC folded in January 1900 following the withdrawal of the New South Wales Cricket Association
.
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
.
Because 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. The facility opened in 1871 during an era when large asylums were in vogue. By the time of Trott's admission, expert opinion had changed; in January 1898 The Argus
reported a specialist's claim that the asylum was likely to make a patient, "just mad enough to be put under restraint"—that is, worse rather than better. Trott was recorded as suffering "dementia
" and "alcoholism
", although there is little empirical evidence for either diagnosis. Cricket writer Gideon Haigh
suggests that his symptoms would possibly be identified in modern times as depressive psychosis
and treated with antipsychotic
s or electroconvulsive therapy
.
Doctors observed that Trott continually stood in one place, showing little interest in events around him. A doctor noted on Trott's file: "Refuses to converse not appearing to be able to follow what is said to him. Answers questions in monosyllables. Does not rouse up when subjects are spoken of that formerly he was interested in." 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, he was allowed newspapers reporting the details of Darling's Australian side in England; this left him unmoved. Trott's friend Ben Wardill, the secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
, visited in November 1899 but Trott did not recognise him. 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."
and a six. While the 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 the South Melbourne team and captained Victoria against Tasmania at Launceston
(taking eight wickets) during the 1900–01 season, but otherwise failed to recapture the form that made him captain of his country.
To aid his convalescence, the Postmaster-General's Department
—Trott's employer—transferred him to the post office at Bendigo
in central Victoria. In 1902–03, he turned up uninvited to a Bendigo United Cricket Club practice session and asked to join in. He played five first-class matches during 1903–04, scoring 268 runs at an average of 26.80 and taking 13 wickets at 23.53 runs each. In his final appearance of the season, he led Victoria
against Plum Warner
's touring English team. He captained the Carlton club
for two seasons, before spending two seasons with Fitzroy
. During the 1907–08 season, he led XVIII of Bendigo against the touring English team and made a farewell first-class appearance against the tourists for Victoria. Opening the bowling, Trott returned 5/116, including the wickets of England's leading batsmen Jack Hobbs
and George Gunn
. Trott later returned to South Melbourne
, where he played until the age of 44. He led the club on a tour of New Zealand in 1912–13 and in the next season (his last) he topped the club's batting and bowling averages, for the fifth time as a batsman and the third time as a bowler.
Trott spent his entire working life in the Post Office, employed as a postman and mail sorter. He married Violet Hodson in Fitzroy
on 17 February 1890 and the couple had one son. In 1911, Trott became a selector
for the Victorian team when Hugh Trumble
resigned to take the secretaryship of the Melbourne Cricket Club
. Trott's high standing in the cricket community saw the other candidate for the position withdraw rather than oppose him. 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 "[h]e would like to shake hands with the six men who had stood out against the Board".
At the age of 51, Trott died of Hodgkin's lymphoma
, at his home in inner-suburban Albert Park
on 9 November 1917. He was buried at Brighton Cemetery
where, two years later, a large monument was erected over his grave, paid for by the Victorian Cricket Association
and cricket enthusiasts. His great-grandson, Stuart Trott, played 200 games for St Kilda and Hawthorn
in the Victorian Football League
between 1967 and 1977. The South Africa
n-born English cricketer Jonathan Trott
says he is a distant relation to Harry and Albert Trott.
Trott's role in Australian cricket was recognised by the clubs for which he had played. Until 2005, Trott's club team, South Melbourne Cricket Club
was based at Harry Trott Oval in Albert Park
, while Bendigo United Cricket Club, for whom Trott played in 1902, still play at the Harry Trott Oval in the Bendigo
suburb of Kennington
.
, 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." 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. 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." Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described Trott as "one of the soundest [Australian batsman], combining as he does vigorous hitting with a strong, watchful defence".
Trott was able to obtain turn from all types of pitches bowling his loopy leg spin
ners, through varying his pace and flight
. 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." 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."Haigh (2001), p. 25. Wisden thought his bowling was "too slow to be effectual against good batsmen" 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".
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." The English batsman K. S. Ranjitsinhji considered Trott as a captain "without a superior anywhere today". Wisden thought him, "with the exception of[ Billy Murdoch
] ... incomparably the best captain the Australians had ever had in this country." The sporting newspaper, The Referee wrote "[Trott's] 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."
steelworks generated extra plumes of smoke when the Australians were batting at nearby Bramall Lane
, in order to reduce the quality of the light. When Australia played 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." When Trott, a humble postman, met the Prince of Wales
(later Edward VII
) in 1896, his teammates admired his natural ease of manner in the presence of royalty. Given a cigar by the Prince, Trott simply smoked it, to the surprise of those who thought a royal souvenir worth keeping. With this in mind, Trott later played a practical joke when he returned home. 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; he asked the recipients not to tell others in case it provoked jealousy. Trott was extremely fond of hats; a teammate described him as, "... the only man I have seen who, in the nude, had to have a hat on his head".
Jack Pollard
wrote "It was said that [Trott] never made an enemy and was universally admired." 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."
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
er who played 24 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
as an all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "... it is as a captain
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of human nature". After a period of some instability and ill discipline in Australian cricket, he was the first in a succession of assertive Australian captains that included Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
, Monty Noble
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
and Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
, 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 opponents. A right-hand batsman, Trott was known for his sound defence and vigorous hitting. His slow leg spin
Leg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
bowling was often able to deceive batsmen through subtle variations of pace and flight
Flight (cricket)
Flight, also known as Loop, is a description of a kind of delivery in cricket, when a bowler makes the ball rise above eyeline, before it descends once again on its trajectory towards the batsman.Flight is a key weapon of spin bowlers...
, but allowed opposition batsmen to score quickly.
Trott made his Test debut in 1888 and 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 Tests to one and retaining The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
, 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
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
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".
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
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
, apathy
Apathy
Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical or physical life.They may lack a sense of purpose or meaning in...
and memory loss. Failing to recover lucidity, he was committed to a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
for over 400 days. After he was discharged, in time he returned to cricket, once again playing first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for his state, Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
, and performing at a consistently high level for his club, South Melbourne
Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club
The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. Founded in 1862 as South Melbourne, it has produced nine Australian Test captains, more than any other cricket...
. A postman
Mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman , postman/postwoman , letter carrier or postie is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses...
by trade, after retirement from cricket Trott served as a selector
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
for the Victorian team.
Early life and career
Born in CollingwoodCollingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
, an inner suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Trott was the third of eight children for accountant Adolphus Trott and his wife Mary-Ann (née Stephens). His younger brother Albert
Albert Trott
Albert Trott was a Test cricketer for both Australia and England. He was named as one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899. He remains the only batsman who has struck a ball over the top of the Lord's pavilion...
also became a Test cricketer. The siblings played their junior cricket with the local Capulet club. Harry transferred to South Melbourne
Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club
The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. Founded in 1862 as South Melbourne, it has produced nine Australian Test captains, more than any other cricket...
, which played in Melbourne's pennant competition
Victorian Premier Cricket
Victorian Premier Cricket is the elite club cricket competition in the state of Victoria, administered by Cricket Victoria. Each club fields four teams of adult players and usually play on weekends and public holidays. Matches are played on turf wickets under limited-time rules, with most results...
, after scouts for the club noticed him playing park cricket. In his first season, the 18-year-old Trott recorded the best batting average and bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
for the team.
Trott made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
against an "Australian XI" on New Year's Day 1886, scoring four and 18 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
. Two months later, he played his first inter-colonial match, against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
. Batting, he scored 54 runs; his innings included a memorable hit over the leg side
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
boundary
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
from the bowling of leading Test all-rounder George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, and he captured seven wickets for the match with his bowling. In 1886–87, Trott hit a double century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
for South Melbourne in a match against St Kilda
St Kilda Cricket Club
St Kilda Cricket Club is a cricket club in the elite club competition of Melbourne, Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket.Its home ground is the St Kilda Cricket Ground, often called the Junction Oval.-History:...
and appeared for Victoria against Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings . He who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888...
's touring English team, claiming four wickets for 125 runs (4/125). During the next summer, he played for a non-representative "Australian XI" against Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer, and rugby football administrator, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888, and who was widely rated as competing with W. G...
's XI and George Vernon
George Vernon
George Frederick Vernon was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He also played one Test match for England during the first-ever Ashes tour in 1882-83.Vernon was the son of George Vernon of 32 Montague Square...
's XI, two English teams touring Australia simultaneously. 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. However, Trott's batting credentials were modest: he had scored only one half-century in 29 first-class innings. 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
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
(LBW) law that would aid bowlers of Trott's style seemed imminent. The former Australian player Tom Horan
Tom Horan
Thomas Patrick Horan was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name "Felix". The first of only two Irish-born players to play Test cricket for Australia, Horan was the leading batsman in the colony of Victoria...
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."
First tours of England
Included in the Australian squad to tour EnglandAustralian cricket team in England in 1886
The Australian cricket team in England in 1886 played 27 first-class matches including 3 Tests which were all won by England:* – England won by 4 wickets* – England won by an innings and 106 runs...
, Trott was selected in the team for the First Test at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. He had an inauspicious Test debut: he made a duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
in the first innings and three runs in the second, and did not bowl. The Australians won the game by 62 runs, only their second Test match victory in England. However, England retained The Ashes by winning the remaining two Tests and Trott's influence on the series was negligible: he did not pass 20 in an innings, and he failed to take a wicket. Nevertheless, his performances in the other matches of the season prompted Wisden Cricketers Almanack to write that he, "... fully justif[ied] his selection by scoring the highly creditable total of 1,212 runs, with an average of over 19 per innings", and that his fielding
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
was "excellent at point". 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
Charles Turner (cricketer)
Charles Thomas Biass Turner was a bowler who is regarded as one of the finest ever produced by Australia....
and John Ferris, "monopolised the bowling".
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
, his maiden century in first-class cricket. The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the innings "... stamped him as a batsman of the highest class". In first-class matches, Trott posted 507 runs (at 39.00 average) and claimed 25 wickets (at 17.44 average) for the summer, and hit a double century in a club match against Melbourne
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
. Another good all-round season in 1889–90 ensured his place for the next trip to England.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
ability of George Giffen who had refused to tour, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trott scored 1,211 first-class runs (at 20.87 average) with a highest score of 186 against Cambridge University Past and Present, and captured 20 wickets. 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".
Australian revival and Wisden cricketer of the year
In 1891–92, Lord SheffieldHenry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield
Henry North Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield , styled Viscount Pevensey until 1876, was an English Conservative politician and patron of cricket....
's team
English cricket team in Australia in 1891-92
The England national cricket team toured Australia and Ceylon in 1891-92.The team, captained by W G Grace, was organised by Lord Sheffield who later subscribed the Sheffield Shield to Australian domestic first-class cricket....
(captained by W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
) 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. The Australians won the series 2–1 to regain The Ashes. In the first Test at Melbourne
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, Trott scored three and 23, but had greater impact with the ball. Requiring 213 runs for victory, England's score reached 60 before their first two batsmen were dismissed. The Australian captain Jack Blackham
Jack Blackham
John McCarthy Blackham was a Test cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia.A specialist wicket-keeper, Blackham played in the first Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 and the famous Ashes Test match of 1882...
then gambled by calling on Trott's often inaccurate bowling. Trott took two quick wickets and the English innings never recovered. In returning 3/52 for the innings, Wisden noted that Trott "bowled admirably". 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.
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
Pura Cup
The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
match, against New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
in December 1892. He scored 63 and 70 not out in a winning effort. The ACC appointed Trott as one of the six players to select the touring team for England.
The Australian team toured England in 1893
Australian cricket team in England in 1893
The Australian cricket team in England in 1893 played 31 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:* – match drawn* – England won by an innings and 43 runs...
to compete for The Ashes. The English won the series one Test to nil, with two drawn to recover The Ashes. 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. While Trott did not take a wicket in the Tests, he took 38 wickets in all first-class matches that season. In the Second Test at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, Trott scored 92 runs in the second innings after the Australians were forced to follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
; 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. Trott was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. 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".
The Trott brothers
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
led an English team to Australia in 1894–95
English cricket team in Australia in 1894-95
The England cricket team toured Australia and Ceylon in 1894-95.The team, captained by Andrew Stoddart, played 24 matches in total, of which it won 10, drew 10 and lost 4...
to defend The Ashes. A feature of the summer was the emergence of Albert Trott
Albert Trott
Albert Trott was a Test cricketer for both Australia and England. He was named as one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899. He remains the only batsman who has struck a ball over the top of the Lord's pavilion...
and the performance of the brothers in tandem. Playing for Victoria against the touring side, the Trotts 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
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
. In between these two games, England won the first Test at Sydney
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
—a remarkable turnaround after they had been forced to follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
—by bowling the Australians out for 166 in the second innings. The second Test at Melbourne
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
saw another English victory; Trott played a rearguard innings of 95 in the second innings, to no avail. Attempting to stay in the series, Australia dramatically revamped their team for the next Test at Adelaide
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
. Albert Trott, making his Test debut, was one of four inclusions while Harry was elevated to open the batting. In a match played in intense heat throughout, 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 (both scored from the number ten
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
position), and a bowling return of 8/43 in England's second innings. Australia won the match by 382 runs. 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. In the fourth Test at Sydney
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, 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
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
. Opening the bowling in the first innings, Harry Trott dismissed Archie MacLaren, Johnny Briggs
Johnny Briggs (cricketer)
Johnny Briggs was a left arm spin bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1879 and 1900 who still stands as the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after Brian Statham...
and Stoddart.
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. Harry Trott's all-round contribution was a score of 42 in each innings, six wickets and two catches, but England won The Ashes by chasing a target of 297 runs in the second innings, which they reached with six wickets in hand. Even in England, "the interest was greater than had ever been felt in matches played away from [England]".
During the following summer, Trott again acted as a Test selector, along with the incumbent Test captain George Giffen and former captain Percy McDonnell
Percy McDonnell
Percy Stanislaus McDonnell was an Australian cricketer who captained the Australian Test team in six matches, including the tour of England in 1888....
. When choosing the Australian team for the previous tour of England, Giffen used his influence to ensure the selection of his younger brother, Walter
Walter Giffen
Walter Frank Giffen was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests between 1887 and 1892...
. The team chosen for the 1896 tour of England included a number of promising young players, including Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
and Clem Hill, both of whom went on to captain Australia. Albert Trott was a controversial omission, in light of performances in the previous Ashes series, but he accompanied the team on their voyage and later settled in England. He had a successful career with Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
and appeared for England in two Test matches against South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The cricket historian David Frith
David Frith
David Edward John Frith is a leading cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly".-Life and career:...
records that when the Trott brothers encountered each other on an English street, they merely exchanged acknowledging nods and kept walking.
Captain of Australia
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
ahead of George Giffen. On the opening day of the first Test at Lord's, England bowled Australia out in 75 minutes for only 53 runs on a pitch thought to be good for batting. In reply, England made 292 with Trott taking two wickets. In their second innings, Australia was still 177 runs in arrears with three wickets down when Syd Gregory
Syd Gregory
Sydney Edward Gregory , sometimes known as Edward Sydney Gregory, was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. At the time of his retirement, he had played a world-record 58 Test matches during a career spanning 1890 to 1912...
joined Trott at the crease. Their partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
of 221 runs led Wisden to record that, "as long as cricket is played ... cause the match to be remembered". Trott's score of 143 (the only Test century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
of his career) was not enough to prevent England winning by six wickets. In the second Test at Manchester, Australia again batted first, scoring 412 runs; Frank Iredale
Frank Iredale
Francis Adams Iredale was an Australian Test cricketer who played 14 Tests between 1888 and 1902...
making 108 and Trott 53. At the beginning of England's first innings, Trott opened the bowling with his flighted
Flight (cricket)
Flight, also known as Loop, is a description of a kind of delivery in cricket, when a bowler makes the ball rise above eyeline, before it descends once again on its trajectory towards the batsman.Flight is a key weapon of spin bowlers...
leg-spin. It was unusual for a leg-spinner to take the new ball
Cricket ball
A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...
, but the move—a "stroke of genius" according to Wisden—was successful as he dismissed Stoddart and WG Grace for low scores. Both batsmen were deceived by Trott's flight and stumped by the wicket-keeper. England totaled 231 and, forced to follow on, scored 305 runs in the second innings, K. S. Ranjitsinhji making 154 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
. In a tense finish, Australia made the 125 runs needed for victory with three wickets in hand. On a pitch affected by rain
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
, 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 nine wickets for 25.
Trott made 1297 runs and took 44 wickets in first-class matches on the tour. 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". 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".
Although the team was considered successful, in spite of the failure to recapture The Ashes, the problems between the players and the administrators continued. Before the team departed Australia, the players arbitrarily replaced one of the selected players without recourse to the ACC. After the final match in England, Trott and his players broke an agreement to return home in time for the 1896–97 Australian season. Instead, they organised matches in North America and New Zealand.
"A national institution"
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 nine wickets, K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring 175 runs. 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 lineLine and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
, the Australians aimed for a catch from a shot played to that side. 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." The English captain Archie MacLaren agreed saying, "Ranji is in a blue funk". Regardless of the tactics, Ranji made 457 runs at an average of 50.77 for the Test series.
Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...
. This caused him to lose the sight in one eye before his last Test innings, where he made 18 runs. 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".
During the course of the Test series, a major convention was in progress to discuss the proposed federation
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
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." 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." Passers-by, including men and their families, would stop and look at Trott's home in Albert Park
Albert Park, Victoria
Albert Park is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip. At the 2006 Census, Albert Park had a population of 5827....
"with the deference of worshippers at a shrine", in the words of cricket writer Ray Robinson
Ray Robinson (cricket writer)
Raymond John Robinson was an Australian journalist and author, best known for his writings on the sport of cricket. Born in Melbourne, Robinson attended Brighton State school and joined the Melbourne's The Herald as a copyboy. Given a cadetship with the paper, he reported on Australian football...
.
The impetus for federation did not extend to the administration of cricket, however. The ACC continued to attract criticism for being ineffectual and at a meeting of the Victorian Cricket Association
Cricket Victoria
Cricket Victoria is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association...
in July 1898, Trott (in his capacity as a delegate for the South Melbourne club) tabled a motion that Victoria secede from the ACC. Although the proposal was defeated by a single vote, Trott was one of twelve Test players who signed a letter to the ACC secretary calling for the disbanding of the organisation. Failing to win the support of the players, the ACC folded in January 1900 following the withdrawal of the New South Wales Cricket Association
New South Wales Cricket Association
The New South Wales Cricket Association is a sporting club who administer cricket in New South Wales, based at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Their trading name is Cricket NSW....
.
Illness and recovery
Less than six months after leading his team to victory over England, Trott endured a severe mental illness. 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 10 pm 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. His supporters raised ₤Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
453 to send him for two weeks at a private retreat at Woodend
Woodend, Victoria
Woodend is a small town in Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Macedon Ranges Local government area. It is bypassed to the east and north by the Calder Freeway and is located about halfway between Melbourne and Bendigo...
, a small town north-west of Melbourne. The treatment was unsuccessful and Trott continued to suffer from insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
, memory loss and apathy
Apathy
Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical or physical life.They may lack a sense of purpose or meaning in...
.
Hospitalisation
Australian cricket team in England in 1899
The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...
, the Australian captaincy passed to Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
. On 8 May 1899, Trott was committed to the Kew Asylum
Kew Asylum
Kew Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned psychiatric hospital located between Princess Street and Yarra Boulevard in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Operational from 1871 to 1988, Kew was one of the largest asylums ever built in Australia. Later known as Willsmere, the complex of buildings...
, a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The facility opened in 1871 during an era when large asylums were in vogue. By the time of Trott's admission, expert opinion had changed; in January 1898 The Argus
The Argus (Australia)
The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...
reported a specialist's claim that the asylum was likely to make a patient, "just mad enough to be put under restraint"—that is, worse rather than better. Trott was recorded as suffering "dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
" and "alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
", although there is little empirical evidence for either diagnosis. Cricket writer Gideon Haigh
Gideon Haigh
Gideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh is an English-born Australian journalist, who writes about sport and business. He was born in London of a Yorkshire father and an Australian mother, and was raised in Geelong, Victoria.- Career :Haigh has been writing about sport and business for over...
suggests that his symptoms would possibly be identified in modern times as depressive psychosis
Psychotic depression
Psychotic major depression is a type of depression that can include symptoms and treatments that are different from those of non-psychotic major depressive disorder . PMD is estimated to affect about 0.4% of the population .PMD is sometimes "mistaken" for NPMD, schizoaffective disorder,...
and treated with antipsychotic
Antipsychotic
An antipsychotic is a tranquilizing psychiatric medication primarily used to manage psychosis , particularly in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A first generation of antipsychotics, known as typical antipsychotics, was discovered in the 1950s...
s or electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
.
Doctors observed that Trott continually stood in one place, showing little interest in events around him. A doctor noted on Trott's file: "Refuses to converse not appearing to be able to follow what is said to him. Answers questions in monosyllables. Does not rouse up when subjects are spoken of that formerly he was interested in." 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, he was allowed newspapers reporting the details of Darling's Australian side in England; this left him unmoved. Trott's friend Ben Wardill, the secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, visited in November 1899 but Trott did not recognise him. 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."
Return to cricket
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 foursBoundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
and a six. While the 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
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
against a team from the Commercial Travellers Association. Declared to be "recovered", Trott was discharged after spending 400 days at Kew Asylum
Kew Asylum
Kew Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned psychiatric hospital located between Princess Street and Yarra Boulevard in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Operational from 1871 to 1988, Kew was one of the largest asylums ever built in Australia. Later known as Willsmere, the complex of buildings...
. He returned to the South Melbourne team and captained Victoria against Tasmania at Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
(taking eight wickets) during the 1900–01 season, but otherwise failed to recapture the form that made him captain of his country.
To aid his convalescence, the Postmaster-General's Department
Postmaster-General's Department
The Postmaster-General's Department was created at Federation in 1901 to control all postal services within Australia. Its minister was the Postmaster-General. In mid-1975 it was disaggregated into the Australian Telecommunications Commission and the Australian Postal Commission...
—Trott's employer—transferred him to the post office at Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
in central Victoria. In 1902–03, he turned up uninvited to a Bendigo United Cricket Club practice session and asked to join in. He played five first-class matches during 1903–04, scoring 268 runs at an average of 26.80 and taking 13 wickets at 23.53 runs each. In his final appearance of the season, he led Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
against Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
's touring English team. He captained the Carlton club
Carlton Cricket Club
Carlton Cricket Club is an Australian cricket team that competes in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. The club was formed in 1864 and plays its home matches at Princes Park in North Carlton. Known as the Blues, Carlton has won eight First XI premierships, most recently in the...
for two seasons, before spending two seasons with Fitzroy
Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club
The Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club, nicknamed the Lions, play cricket in the elite club competition of Melbourne, Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket. The club was formed by a 1986 amalgamation of Fitzroy Cricket Club, a foundation member of Victorian Premier Cricket in 1905, and...
. During the 1907–08 season, he led XVIII of Bendigo against the touring English team and made a farewell first-class appearance against the tourists for Victoria. Opening the bowling, Trott returned 5/116, including the wickets of England's leading batsmen Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
and George Gunn
George Gunn
George Gunn was an English cricketer who played in 15 Tests from 1907 to 1930. Along with other notable batsmen such as Jack Hobbs, Frank Woolley and Phil Mead, he was one of a group who, beginning their first-class careers in the Edwardian Era, seemed to go on for ever...
. Trott later returned to South Melbourne
Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club
The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. Founded in 1862 as South Melbourne, it has produced nine Australian Test captains, more than any other cricket...
, where he played until the age of 44. He led the club on a tour of New Zealand in 1912–13 and in the next season (his last) he topped the club's batting and bowling averages, for the fifth time as a batsman and the third time as a bowler.
Personal life
Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
on 17 February 1890 and the couple had one son. In 1911, Trott became a selector
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
for the Victorian team when Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average of...
resigned to take the secretaryship of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
. Trott's high standing in the cricket community saw the other candidate for the position withdraw rather than oppose him. In 1912, Trott took the side of the "Big Six
Big Six cricket dispute of 1912
The Big Six cricket dispute that occurred in 1912 was a confrontation between the administrators and players of the sport of cricket in Australia. Six of Australia's leading cricketers refused an invitation to tour England for the 1912 Triangular Tournament. The six players were Warwick Armstrong,...
", the Australian cricketers opposed to the newly formed Australian Board of Control for International Cricket
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 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
Collins Street, Melbourne
Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's traditional main street and best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings.The...
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 "[h]e would like to shake hands with the six men who had stood out against the Board".
At the age of 51, Trott died of Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma, previously known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma, which is a cancer originating from white blood cells called lymphocytes...
, at his home in inner-suburban Albert Park
Albert Park, Victoria
Albert Park is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip. At the 2006 Census, Albert Park had a population of 5827....
on 9 November 1917. He was buried at Brighton Cemetery
Brighton Cemetery
Brighton Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South, Victoria, but takes its name from Brighton, Victoria.The Cemetery pre-dates the Caulfield Roads Board - the first official recognition of the suburb of Caulfield. Opened in 1855 it became, together with St. Kilda Cemetery, an...
where, two years later, a large monument was erected over his grave, paid for by the Victorian Cricket Association
Cricket Victoria
Cricket Victoria is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association...
and cricket enthusiasts. His great-grandson, Stuart Trott, played 200 games for St Kilda and Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
in the Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
between 1967 and 1977. The South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n-born English cricketer Jonathan Trott
Jonathan Trott
Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand...
says he is a distant relation to Harry and Albert Trott.
Trott's role in Australian cricket was recognised by the clubs for which he had played. Until 2005, Trott's club team, South Melbourne Cricket Club
Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club
The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. Founded in 1862 as South Melbourne, it has produced nine Australian Test captains, more than any other cricket...
was based at Harry Trott Oval in Albert Park
Albert Park and Lake
Albert Park and Albert Park Lake are situated in the City of Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of the Melbourne CBD....
, while Bendigo United Cricket Club, for whom Trott played in 1902, still play at the Harry Trott Oval in the Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
suburb of Kennington
Kennington, Victoria
Kennington is a suburb of Bendigo, a city in Victoria, Australia. The suburb is located south east of the Bendigo city centre and at the 2006 census had a population of 5,647. The suburb is home to the Kennington Reservoir....
.
Context
Playing style
The authoritative cricket journal Wisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, 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." 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. 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." Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described Trott as "one of the soundest [Australian batsman], combining as he does vigorous hitting with a strong, watchful defence".
Trott was able to obtain turn from all types of pitches bowling his loopy leg spin
Leg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
ners, through varying his pace and flight
Flight (cricket)
Flight, also known as Loop, is a description of a kind of delivery in cricket, when a bowler makes the ball rise above eyeline, before it descends once again on its trajectory towards the batsman.Flight is a key weapon of spin bowlers...
. He was noted for giving young batsmen a full toss
Full toss
A full toss is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It describes any delivery that reaches the batsman without bouncing on the pitch first....
on the leg side
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
, allowing the batsman to hit it to the boundary
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
. The next ball would seem identical, but for a subtle change in the position of a fielder
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
, resulting in a catch and the comment, "That first ball was to give you confidence, son. The second to teach you a lesson." Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
, 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."Haigh (2001), p. 25. Wisden thought his bowling was "too slow to be effectual against good batsmen" 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".
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." The English batsman K. S. Ranjitsinhji considered Trott as a captain "without a superior anywhere today". Wisden thought him, "with the exception of
Billy Murdoch
William Lloyd Murdoch was an Australian cricketer, who captained the Australian team on tours to England in 1880, 1882 , 1884 and 1890...
History of English amateur cricket
The history of English amateur cricket describes the concept and importance of amateur players in English cricket.-Co-development of amateur and professional cricket to 1800:...
thought less of Trott's captaincy; wicket-keeper William Storer
William Storer
William Storer was an English footballer and a cricketer who played six Tests from 1897 to 1899, played first class cricket for Derbyshire from 1887 to 1905 and played football for Derby County...
said, "I like a captain to have a settled plan, [Trott] just seemed to do whatever he thought of at the moment."
Personality
Trott's sense of humour was well-known. He originated a persistent myth that workers at the SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
steelworks generated extra plumes of smoke when the Australians were batting at nearby Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane
-Cricket at the Lane:Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket...
, in order to reduce the quality of the light. When Australia played the Gentlemen of Philadelphia in the United States, a local reporter asked Trott why Australians did not play baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
. He replied: "Running around in circles makes us giddy." When Trott, a humble postman, met the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
(later Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
) in 1896, his teammates admired his natural ease of manner in the presence of royalty. Given a cigar by the Prince, Trott simply smoked it, to the surprise of those who thought a royal souvenir worth keeping. With this in mind, Trott later played a practical joke when he returned home. 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; he asked the recipients not to tell others in case it provoked jealousy. Trott was extremely fond of hats; a teammate described him as, "... the only man I have seen who, in the nude, had to have a hat on his head".
Jack Pollard
Jack Pollard
Jack Ernest Pollard OAM was an Australian sports journalist, writer and cricket historian.-Early life:Born in Sydney, New South Wales on 31 July 1926, Pollard began his journalism career in 1943 as a copy boy at Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper...
wrote "It was said that [Trott] never made an enemy and was universally admired." 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."