Scotland Ropes In Former England Batsman Jonathan Trott As Batting Consultant For T20I World Cup 2021

Scotland has roped in former England batsman Jonathan Trott as ‘Batting Lead’ for the upcoming T20 World Cup. He will be assisting the squad, led by Kyle Coetzer, for the tournament in UAE. Additionally, Scotland has also roped in a ‘Wellbeing Manager’ in Louise Finlayson.

Speaking about Jonathan Trott, he comes with an immense amount of experience under his belt. He has been part of the Ashes-winning squad of the England team and also part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 team. Jonathan Trott understands how it is like to deal with pressures and get the best result possible.

Cricket Scotland CEO Gus Mackay Opens Up On Appointment Of A Wellbeing Manager For T20I WC

Scotland is one of the eight teams that will play Qualifiers in Oman. Apart from getting the services of the South African-born Jonathan Trott, Scotland has also managed to get mental ‘Wellbeing Manager’ Louise Finlayson.

“The pandemic has forced us into operating in Managed Environments and the role of a Wellbeing Manager has been identified as critical to supporting the players and staff of what we hope will be a long and successful tour,” said Cricket Scotland CEO, Gus Mackay.

It is a well-documented fact that during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health has become of paramount importance. The stringent bio-bubble norms too are not allowing the players to roam freely. Considering all these factors, Scotland has got Louise Finlayson on board.

Scotland Roped In Jonathan Trott For His Great Knowledge Of Playing In World Cups And Ashes: Scotland Coach Shane Burger

Jonathan Trott made the dreamlike debut, scoring a century and leading England to regain Ashes 2009. After playing his maiden series, he became the lynchpin of England’s batting order and heavily scored for them in ODIs and Tests. But he had a sudden downfall in his career in 2012. However, he bounced back in the 2013-2014 Ashes series and helped the team to retain Ashes.

He played 52 Tests and 68 ODIs apart from 7 T20Is scoring 3835 runs in Tests averaging 44.08 and 2819 runs in ODIs averaging 51.25. Head coach Shane Burger believed that the England batsman Jonathan Trott could bring in a lot of value with his experience.

“What we have in Jonathan Trott is great knowledge and experience of high-performance environments. He’s played in World Cups, Ashes Series, and traveled to many destinations around the world.

“He also understands the demands and high pressures of international sport and the environments that they bring with them and it’ll be fantastic to have him as a support in the build-up to the World Cup,” said Shane Burger while also expressing his confidence in the squad picked.

“This squad has worked hard over a long period of time now and deserves the opportunity to show the world what we are about. This is an experienced, versatile, and exciting group of players and we’re looking forward to embracing the challenges ahead as a team.”

Notably, Scotland is part of the qualifier stage in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. They are placed in Group B alongside, Oman National Cricket Team, Papua New Guinea National Cricket, Bangladesh National Cricket Team.

Squad: Kyle Coetzer. Richard Berrington, Dylan Budge, Matthew Cross (wk), Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Michael Leask, Calum Macleod, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace (wk), Mark Watt, Brad Wheal

Scotland has not played a T20 international since 2019 as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused scheduling problems. Scotland, who featured in their first T20I back in 2007, scored their most significant win in the format against Bangladesh.