Trott leads canter to trophy after Surrey’s collapse

Warwickshire 137 for 2 (Trott 82*) beat Surrey 136 (Burns 40) by eight wicketsScorecard

Much play had been made at Lord’s during the week of the gathering crisis that supposedly besets English professional cricket of the fact that Alastair Cook is now less recognisable than the biggest names in WWE wrestling. So for the benefit of any new readers who may have accidentally alighted on this page perhaps it should be observed from the start that the Royal London final was such a mismatch that Big Show versus Mayweather felt close by comparison.

In a week when English professional cricket was beset by division over its future, the game sorely needed a Royal London Cup final to reassure it that whatever the debate it was still capable of providing high-class entertainment. Instead, Warwickshire waltzed the Lord’s final by eight wickets with a whopping 19.4 overs to spare, much to the disappointment no doubt of one of the biggest crowds for the 50-over final for years.

Jonathan Trott has rarely regarded himself as one of cricket’s Big Show’s. His approach is far too conservative for that, his character far too reserved. But after Warwickshire had dismissed Surrey for 136 – almost ten overs unused as they lost their last eight wickets for 37 in 15.2 overs – Trott compiled an unbeaten 82 in a phlegmatic manner to put batting conditions into perspective. He averaged 72 to get Warwickshire into the final and was their mainstay once more.

In the Lord’s committee rooms, with the ECB chairman Colin Graves robust enough to have donned wrestlers’ garb, they have been obsessing – as they must – about the future of T20. But out on the field, in the 50-over final, Trott was playing in a composed, old-fashioned manner that suggested that nothing had changed, that the game was the same as it ever was, that a methodical approach and sound selection could still win trophies. Chasing 137, he could have blocked his way to victory.

Surrey managed only two wickets. Sam Hain, unnecessarily, reverse swept Zafar Ansari to Sam Curran at what was then short fine leg – Trott had played the shot more delicately earlier in the over – and …

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