Albert Edwin Trott (6 February 1873 – 30 July 1914) was a

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

er for both

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899. He is believed to be the only batsman to have struck a ball over the top of the Lord's Pavilion. He is also one of only two players to take two

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

s in the same first-class innings, the other being Joginder Rao. Despite his notability, having played in 375 first-class matches including 5 Tests, he was almost penniless when he killed himself at the age of 41.

Birth

Trott was born in Abbotsford,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He was one of eight children of accountant Adolphus Trott and his wife Mary-Ann (née Stephens). His older brother, Harry Trott also played Test cricket for Australia. They played junior cricket with the local Capulet club and then played together for Victoria in Australia's domestic first-class cricket competition, the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

Cricket career in Australia

Trott's story represents one of the great enigmas of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

history. After just three first-class matches for Victoria, he burst onto the

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

scene against AE Stoddart's

team in the 3rd Test at

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in 1894–95, with an amazing debut which included taking 8 for 43 with his slinging, round-arm bowling and scoring 38 and 72 with the bat, both

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

, batting at number 10. Australia won the match by 382 runs. He followed this up in the 4th Test in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, by scoring 85 not out in Australia's only innings. Trott was not asked to bowl by captain George Giffen, with England being bowled out cheaply twice by Harry Trott, Charlie Turner and George Giffen. Australia won by an innings and 147 runs to tie the series 2–2. Trott played again in the 5th Test at Melbourne, which England won to win

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...

, chasing down a target of 297 runs in the second innings with only four wickets down. Albert's brother, Harry Trott, was named captain of the Australian team which toured England in 1896. Despite Albert having averaged 102.5 with the bat in the Test series against England, he was not selected for the tour. Nonetheless, Trott sailed to England independently in 1896, on the same ship as the Australian touring side.

Cricket career in England

In England, Trott joined the ground staff at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

with a view to qualifying by residence to play for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. He started to play for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) in 1896, and with the help of the Australian cricketer and Test umpire Jim Phillips, he started to play for Middlesex in 1898. Despite missing a month due to an injured hand, he took 102 wickets in his first season, forming a formidable bowling partnership with J. T. Hearne. Between December 1898 and April 1899, Trott took part in a tour of South Africa organised by Lord Hawke. He played in two matches against the South Africa national cricket team which were retrospectively awarded Test status and thus became one of only sixteen players to have played test cricket for two countries and the last cricketer to have played for both England and Australia. He was at the peak of his powers as an all-rounder in 1899 and 1900. In 1899 he scored 1,175 first-class runs and took 239 wickets, and in 1900 he scored at 1,337 runs and took 211 wickets. Trott's penchant for the spectacular did not fail him: having already landed the ball on the pavilion balcony at

in the match, he became 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 hit a chimney and fell into the garden outside the house of Philip Need, the Lord's dressing room attendant. At the time, Trott had been playing for the MCC and Ground against the Australians; the MCC team also included WG Grace and KS Ranjitsinhji. Noble soon had his revenge when Trott was dismissed shortly afterwards, caught off a top edge at third man. Only two months earlier, playing for Middlesex against Sussex, Trott had hit a lofted drive from Fred Tate into the ironwork at the top of one of the pavilion towers. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1899. He took all ten wickets in an innings (10 for 42) bowling for Middlesex against Somerset at Taunton in 1900. Trott was widely acknowledged as the finest all-round cricketer of his day. A true student of the game, Trott's bowling relied less on pace than it did on guile and spin; his variations ensured that a batsman rarely faced the same ball twice in an over. 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, using a bat, at least half a pound heavier than was then usual. However, from 1901 or 1902, Trott declined abruptly. His weight increased rapidly and he lost mobility, so he could not bowl the very fast ball that was so deadly in his early years. His haul of

wickets In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a ...

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 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 First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

, 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 A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...

Death

After retiring from cricket, Trott suffered a lengthy illness. He had a heart condition complicated by nephralgia. In 1914, he wrote his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

on the back of a

laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

ticket, leaving his

wardrobe A wardrobe, also called armoire or almirah, is a standing closet used for storing clothes. The earliest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until some degree of luxury was attained in regal palaces and the castles of powerful nobles that sep ...

and £4 to his landlady. Shortly afterwards, one day before the 15th anniversary of his famous strike over the pavilion at Lord's, he shot himself in Willesden Green,

. He was buried at Willesden New Cemetery in plot 613P at the expense of

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

. A headstone was erected in 1994. Speculation that the South African-born English cricketer Jonathan Trott might be a distant relation of Albert and Harry Trott appears to be ill-founded. Jonathan's family originates in Woodbridge, Suffolk, whereas Harry and Albert's family originates in Yorkshire. File:AusTeam1894.95.jpg, The Australian team pictured during the summer of 1894–95. Albert is seated at the front, on the right; his older brother Harry Trott is at the far left of the middle row. File:Albert Trott.jpg, The bowling action of Albert Trott File:Albert Trott's Grave.jpg, Albert Trott's headstone

References

* "Over and Out : Albert Trott The Man Who Cleared the Lord's Pavilion" Biography by Steve Neal author. Pitch Publishing 2017. Sports Book Awards Cricket Book of the Year Winner 2017. Cricket Writers Book of the Year 2017

External links