Melbourne, August 20: Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes there will be “huge pressure” on Jonathan Trott when he makes his Test debut in the Ashes finale here at the Oval – and he wants his bowlers to keep it that way.
South Africa-born batsman Trott has been drafted in to bolster England’s middle-order after out-of-form Ravi Bopara was dropped after making just 107 runs in the first four Tests of this series.
England must win at the Oval, where the fifth and final Test starts Thursday, to regain the Ashes and they come into this game on the back of a crushing innings and 80 run fourth Test loss at Headingley which saw holders Australia level the series at 1-1.
Even though England captain Andrew Strauss announced Wednesday that Trott, rather than filling Bopara’s spot of number three, would bat at number five, with fellow Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell and the experienced Paul Collingwood at number four, Ponting said there would be no hiding place.
“There’ll be huge pressure on him to tell the truth,” Ponting said of Trott at an Oval news conference here on Wednesday.
“It’s always hard making your debut against an Australian team let alone in such a big game as this one.
“We have had a good chance over the last few days to have a look at the way he plays. We’ve spoken to quite a few of the Australian guys around the county circuit about how he plays as his well and we’ve got some footage of him from the one-day and Twenty20 stuff earlier in the season as well.
“There’s no doubt there will be great pressure on him and it’s up to us, when he gets his chance to bat, that we keep him under pressure right from the start and don’t let him get any cheap early runs,” Ponting, one of the greatest number three batsmen cricket has known, added.
Many top-class batsmen have began their career down the order – Australia great Greg Chappell was at number seven when he made a century on Test debut, against England, at Perth in 1970.
The 28-year-old Trott reinforced his case for a Test call last week with 121 for Warwickshire, whose director of cricket Ashley Giles is also an England selector, against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
That was his fourth first-class hundred of the season and took his overall tally to 1,046 runs at an average of 80.46.
But it is the fact Trott, like the injured Kevin Pietersen, learnt his cricket in South Africa which has caused disquiet in English cricket circles, with his elevation viewed by some as a damning indictment of the county system’s ability to produce Test standard batsmen.
However, England captain Andrew Strauss – himself born in Johannesburg but educated in England – told reporters:” I don’t know whether the crowd are going to have problems with him.
“I certainly don’t. He’s served his apprenticeship here, he lives here and it has been the case for other players in the past so he shouldn’t be treated any differently.
“The reality of the situation is that he deserves his chance, his career stats are very good and he’s a gutsy individual.
“I’m confident he is going to come in and do well.”
—–Agencies