Coach Ian Trott’s tales on the spirit of the game and Kane Williamson’s sportsmanship as a schoolboy

By K.R. Nayar
From Ardingly, England

Ian Trott is one of the most renowned coaches who has groomed many youngsters into international cricketers. Father of England Test star Jonathan Trott, Ian has been coaching youngsters during G Force Academy cricket tours around the world for many years. He is a reservoir of tales from the game and was happy to share some interesting stories about the spirit of the game.

Ian Trott... a coach with reservoir of cricket tales 

The discussion around how to play with the spirit of the game came up after an incident during this ongoing tour in the final of the Global Cricket Festival at Oakham, when G Force took on the G Force Global team. Before narrating this incident, he talked about a game in which England skipper Paul Collingwood had to step down following a run-out incident in which he did not adhere to the spirit of the game, during the 2008 fourth ODI between England and New Zealand at the Oval.

Jonathan Trott... son of Ian Trott 

The run-out happened when Grant Elliott took off for a quick single with New Zealand seven wickets down and needing another 29 runs off seven overs for victory. England bowler Ryan Sidebottom, who was going for the ball, collided with Elliott and both ended up on the floor. Ian Bell took the ball and threw it to Kevin Pietersen, who collected it and took off the bails. Elliott was run out according to the laws of the game, but umpires Steve Davis and Mark Benson asked Collingwood if he wanted to withdraw the appeal in the spirit of the game, as it was an unintentional collision. Collingwood opted to uphold the appeal, and England, at the end of the day, were booed out of the ground for this act.

Ian Trott congratulates G Force head coach Gopal Jasapara for a spell of 6 for 6 in England last month 

Trott then said: “Maybe because the spirit of the game was sacrificed, New Zealand went on to win by one wicket, and that too through an overthrow off the last ball of the match. After the match, the ECB asked Collingwood to resign or be ready to be sacked. He resigned.”

Trott recounted this incident because, in the Global Cricket final, G Force needed eight runs to win off three balls against the G Force Global team. The G Force batters, going for a quick single, collided with each other and fell. Thirteen year-old George Pegram from England, who was the wicketkeeper for G Force Global, despite collecting the ball, refused to stump them and rolled the ball to the square-leg umpire. “That was an exhibition of the spirit of the game. G Force Global won by five runs. Pegram, who was in line for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper, missed the best wicketkeeper award by one dismissal but was given a special award for his sportsmanship,” noted Trott.

Ian Trott with his wife Donna Trott and Gopal Jasapara 

There was also an instance in this tournament when a batter was wrongly adjudged out, caught off his arm at gully, by the main umpire. “The batter was surprised and even showed the ball mark on his arm to the leg umpire. Upholding the spirit of the game, the captain could have recalled the batter but did not. Remember, umpires control the game, and it is also the captain’s duty to move the game in the right way,” remarked Trott. He then went on to narrate another incident of a young batter who walked off after being caught, but whose coach asked him to return as the umpire hadn’t given him out. Trott believes that cricket rewards those who uphold the spirit of the game, and it is also a coach’s duty to ensure that the boys are taught to play the game in the right spirit.

Incidentally, Trott, who coaches youngsters in New Zealand for six months and in England for the other six, narrated an incident about Kane Williamson which he had witnessed while officiating as an umpire. “It was an interschool match between Tauranga School and Rotorua School when Williamson was just a 13-year-old boy. Rotorua had posted 250 runs in 40 overs, and Tauranga were reduced to 88 for 8. Williamson held the Tauranga innings together and kept the scoreboard moving. When the score reached 150, they had lost nine wickets, and Rotorua was starting to celebrate as they still had 100 runs to take the last wicket. Williamson told the last batter to run only for twos and slowly guided the team to the target with an unbeaten 146. At the end of the match, Williamson stepped aside from taking the honour but clapped for his partner, who had held on with an unbeaten 8, all the way to the pavilion. To show such spirit at the age of 13 was amazing,” recalled Trott, who also revealed that Williamson ran 36 twos in that innings.

Incidentally, before this innings, Williamson had scored four consecutive hundreds, and this century was his fifth. “At that time, they called Williamson the new Martin Crowe, but Williamson has proved to be a greater player than Crowe,” said Trott, who also revealed that Williamson thanked the umpires and even the scorer at the end of the match.