Jonathan Trott

Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott (born 22 April 1981) is a South African-born English former professional cricketer who played international cricket for the England cricket team and is the current head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team.

Domestically, he played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club as well as playing in South Africa and New Zealand.

He scored 119 in the second innings, becoming the 18th England player to score a hundred on debut, the first to do so against Australia since Graham Thorpe in 1993, and the highest scoring Warwickshire batsman on Test debut.

England went on to win the Test, and the Ashes series.

After that Test Series, Tottenham Hotspur, the football team he has always supported, gave him a signed shirt by Harry Redknapp to congratulate him on winning the Ashes and a Test century.

Trott was then selected to play in the rain-affected two-match Twenty20 International matches, although the weather prevented him from playing any more than a scoreless four deliveries.

He was not selected for the ODI series, returning to Warwickshire to score 93 against Worcestershire, though on 11 September it was announced that he had been awarded an "incremental contract" with England.

The Cricket Monthly reported that "His grandfather was born in London and never lost his cockney accent. During the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, a seminal moment in the nascent democracy under former president Nelson Mandela, the Trotts supported England".

By virtue of his grandfather's British citizenship, Trott was eligible for a British passport from birth.

Educated at Rondebosch Boys' High School, Stellenbosch University, and a resident of Helshoogte Manskoshuis in Stellenbosch, he played for South Africa at both under-15 and under-19 level.

On his Warwickshire second-XI debut in 2002, he compiled a record score of 245; the following year he scored 134 on County Championship debut for Warwickshire, and in the same season claimed a haul of 7 for 39 with his occasional seam bowling, his only first-class five-wicket haul.

Trott hit four first-class centuries for Warwickshire during the 2005 season, bettering his previous career best to 152 against Glamorgan before taking it to 210 against Sussex three weeks later.

His 1,161 first-class runs of 2005 was the second-highest tally of the Warwickshire season, only behind Nick Knight.

Before his first international Test call-up, Trott had hit 8,121 first-class runs at an average of just under 44.

Although he played for South Africa at U19 level, Trott was eligible to play for England as a result of his grandparents being English.

A right-handed top-order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler, he played two Twenty20 Internationals for England in 2007.

Following a good season in 2007 he was selected in June 2007 for England's one day squad for the series against the West Indies.

He was given the nickname Leon, after Marxist theorist Leon Trotsky by the England team.

Trott shook off a hand injury and played in both Twenty20 Internationals against the West Indies but failed to contribute in double figures and the series ended 1–1.

Good performances for his county in 2008 and 2009, as well as a productive tour in 2008–09 with the England Lions, led to a call-up to the senior England Test squad in August 2009 for the fifth Ashes Test.

In April 2009, he married Warwickshire's press officer Abi Dollery, granddaughter of former Warwickshire captain Tom Dollery.

On 4 August 2009, during a strong county season for Warwickshire during which he was averaging over 97, it was announced that Trott would be included in the 14-man Ashes squad, to play 2009 Ashes against Australia in the fourth Test at Headingley.

Trott did not feature in that match, but was then named in the team for the decisive Ashes Test at the Oval and made his debut.

Trott batted solidly during the first innings, scoring 41 runs before being run out by Simon Katich.

Trott earned selection for the tour to South Africa winter of 2009/10, thanks to his Ashes efforts and his batting form which helped Warwickshire to the Second Division 2009 Pro40 title.

However, on the eve of the tour former captain Michael Vaughan announced in his biography his disappointment in seeing Trott celebrating with the South African cricket team after their victory over England the previous year.

His highest England score in a Test match is 226, made against Bangladesh at Lord's on 28 May 2010, and he took his first Test wicket in the same match.

He often fields at slip, particularly to the spinners.

Their daughter, Lily, was born in October 2010.

His half-brother, Kenny Jackson, represented the Netherlands and Western Province.

As he holds a British passport, Trott is not considered an overseas player in county cricket.

He was ICC and ECB Cricketer of the Year in 2011.

Citing stress and anxiety, Trott left England's Ashes tour of Australia in November 2013, with the intention of taking a break from all forms of cricket.

A comeback attempt in April 2014 was shelved due to a recurrence of the condition.

Trott returned to the England team for the 2015 West Indies Test series, but after struggling in the series, he retired from all international cricket on 4 May 2015.

He scored a century in that Test, becoming the 18th England player to do so on his Test debut.

18 months later, he scored another century at the MCG to set up the victory which saw England retain the Ashes.

In May 2018, Trott announced he would retire from professional cricket at the end of the English domestic cricket season.

In July 2022, Trott was named as the new head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team.

Trott was born in Cape Town to a South African family of English descent.