Targeted Trott happy to battle Down Under

It was in the first Test at Brisbane in November 2010 that Trott combined with Alastair Cook in a record unbeaten triple-century stand that emphatically confirmed the tide had turned against Australia.

Trott was rewarded not only with the satisfaction of Ashes glory but the sport’s most prestigious individual accolade when he was named International Cricket Council Test match player of the year.

However, three years on (and for the first time since the 2009-10 tour of his native South Africa). there are questions for the Warwickshire batsman to answer.

Trott cut an unfamiliar and frantic figure when he concluded his first Test trip away with England with scores of five and eight in a landslide Johannesburg defeat four winters ago.

Those brief innings were a world away from his Ashes-clinching debut hundred at the Oval four months earlier, and what has followed in almost the entirety of his Test career to date.

In the context of relentless run-churning, however, Trott’s 2013 summer was fallow – 293 at a shade under 30 falling significantly short of the standards he has set, and which England supporters have come to expect.

If there are signs of vulnerability, Australia have not been slow to publicly declare them as they seek to widen the cracks coach Darren Lehmann claims to have spotted in England’s batting.

For England and Trott, a 3-0 home win – and the prospect therefore of a fourth successive Ashes series success this winter – is an obvious counter to Aussie bluster. However, Trott is not in denial about his relatively modest summer.

“I pride myself on working hard and putting a high value on my wicket,” he said. “I hope I can get out to Australia and do that again, like I’ve done in the past.”

Trott treasures the success he has already had with his adopted country, but knows a second slice Down Under will need to be hard-earned.

“I’m very proud,” he added. “Just to be part of the squad that won there last time and created history, having not won for so long, was fantastic.”

Australia have delighted in identifying perceived chinks in Trott’s armoury. Among them, they cited his two lbw dismissals in the final Test at the Oval to left-armers Mitchell Starc and James Faulkner. Trott’s trusted front-foot method of walking at the ball and picking off anything slanted into him failed him in that match. However, Trott will not shy away from working at his game.

“Having played cricket for long enough, you realise things aren’t always set in stone and that nothing’s given to you,” he said. “No one’s got a divine right to go into any match thinking they’re going to score runs.”