Albert Trott

Albert Trott

Personal information
Full name	Albert Edwin Trott
Born	6 February 1873(1873-02-06) Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia
Died	30 July 1914(1914-07-30) (aged 41) Harlesden, Middlesex, England
Nickname	Alberto, Albatrott
Batting style	Right-hand batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm off break, medium/fast medium
Role	Lower order batsman, umpire
Relations	Harry Trott (brother)
International information
National side	Australia
	England
Test debut (cap 71/116)	11 January 1895  Australia v England
Last Test	1 April 1899  England v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1901–02	Hawke's Bay
1900–1904	London County
1898–1910	Middlesex
1896–1911	MCC
1892–1896	Victoria
Career statistics
Competition	Test	First-class
Matches	5	375
Runs scored	228	10,696
Batting average	38.00	19.48
100s/50s	0/2	8/44
Top score	85*	164
Balls bowled	948	71,388
Wickets	26	1,674
Bowling average	15.00	21.09
5 wickets in innings	2	131
10 wickets in match	0	41
Best bowling	8/43	10/42
Catches/stumpings	4/–	452/–
Source: CricketArchive, 2 December 2008

Albert Trott (6 February 1873 – 30 July 1914) 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. Despite his notoriety, having played in 375 first-class matches, he died almost penniless when he committed suicide at the age of 41.

Birth

He was born Albert Edwin Trott in Abbotsford, Melbourne, Australia.

Cricket career

bowling action of Albert Trott.

Trott's story represents one of the great enigmas of Australian cricket history. He burst onto the Test scene against England in Adelaide, Australia in 1894-95, with an amazing debut which included taking 8 for 43 with his slinging, round-arm bowling and scoring 38 and 72 (both not out) with the bat. He followed this up in the next match in Sydney, Australia, by scoring 85 (again not out), though he was strangely not asked to bowl by captain George Giffen. Albert's brother, Harry Trott, was named captain of the Australian team which toured England in 1896, though Albert's form (which saw him average 102.5 with the bat in the Test series against England) was, remarkably, insufficient to merit tour selection.

Despite his omission from the team, Trott sailed to England independently and, with the help of the Australian cricketer and Test umpire Jim Phillips, played for Middlesex. Trott's penchant for the spectacular did not fail him: he became the first (and to this day the only) batsman to hit a ball over the current Lord's pavilion, bludgeoning Monty Noble out of the ground on 31 July 1899. The ball landed in the garden of Philip Need's home, the Lord's dressing room attendant. At the time, Trott had been playing for the MCC and Ground against the Australians. He was widely acknowledged as the finest all-round cricketer on the planet. A true student of the game, Trott's bowling relied less on pace than it did on guile and spin; he rarely bowled two balls alike. Trott was a dynamo in the field, with the ball seldom escaping his commodious clutch. He regularly turned matches for Middlesex with his powerful hitting.

However, from 1901 or 1902, Trott declined abruptly because, owing to a rapid increase in his weight and loss of mobility, he could not bowl the very fast ball that was so deadly in his early years. His haul of wickets fell rapidly: from 176 in 1901 to 133 in 1902 and 105 in 1903. By 1905, he was extremely expensive and ineffective (taking only 62 wickets), and only in the very dry summer of 1906 did his batting reach the levels of his early years with Middlesex.

Trott's ability to entertain never left him. His popularity rose as he enjoyed regular ales with spectators on the boundary while fielding. In his benefit match in 1907, he took an amazing double hat trick (four wickets in four balls), and then followed up with a second hat trick later in the innings (the feat of two hat-tricks in an innings has been repeated only once in first-class cricket, by Joginder Rao). However, the early end to the match meant that it did not raise as much money for him as it might have done, and he is said to have remarked that he had "bowled himself into the poorhouse".

Death

Albert Trott's headstone.

In 1914, Trott wrote his will on the back of a laundry ticket, leaving his wardrobe and £4 to his landlady. Shortly afterwards, he shot himself in Willesden Green, Middlesex.

He was buried at Willesdon New Cemetery in plot 613P at the expense of Middlesex County Cricket Club. A headstone was erected in 1994.

See also

• History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)
• History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)

References

• Serle, Percival (1949). "Trott, George Henry Stevens". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogT-V.html#trott1. 

External links

• Player profile: Albert Trott from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Albert Trott from CricketArchive