Jonathan Trott terms Mitchell Johnson as his executioner

Every Autobiography promises great details about the life of the personality on whom it is based. Such self-narrated book creates a lot of excitement. But, at the same time, many events described in the book can also create controversies.

One such Autobiography which has created a bit of wave is Jonathan Trott’s latest Autobiography the ‘Unguarded’, which is being serialised by The Times newspaper.

An extract focusing on the reaction to Trott’s decision to leave the 2013-14 Ashes tour due to a stress-related illness published attracted serious response Michael Vaughan. Trott wrote some criticising fact about Vaughan. The attention has now turned to the main reason Trott took his decision to retire in November 2013 – the incredible fast bowling barrage he received from Johnson.

Trott was dismissed twice by the Aussie left-armer in the first Test at the Gabba (After getting tormented by the bouncers), before announcing his shock decision to quit the tour.

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Despite claiming in his book that Johnson wasn’t the quickest or the best Australian bowler he’d faced Trott went into great detail about the negative mental state that prompted his departure.

“I felt I was being led out to face the firing squad by the time we reached Brisbane,” Trott wrote. “I was a condemned man. Helpless, blindfolded and handcuffed.

“Mitchell Johnson was to be my executioner.”

Trott describes a moment during his warm-up for the first Ashes Test in which he realised something was horribly wrong.

After struggling with his batting technique in the nets, he received a critique from then-coach Andy Flower.

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“It was grotesque,” Trott wrote. “I knew I was screwed. I looked at him blankly for a moment and broke down.”

The right-hander walked out to bat at the Gabba with his team in a relatively good position on day one of the first Test but he was, as he described it, “a mess”.

After negotiating a tough first over from Ryan Harris, it was time to face up to Johnson, who had given Trott a thorough work over in a one-day series in England a few months earlier.

“At the end of the over Shane Watson, who I can’t say I’ve ever warmed to, runs past,” Jonathan Trott wrote. “‘Get ready for Mitch, he’s coming your way,’ he snarls. ‘Tell me something I don’t know,’ I mumble back at him.

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“I’ve played against Australia a lot. They are always like this when they’re in the game: cocky; loud; in your face. It’s when they’re losing they go quiet and sulky. I’ve seen them quiet and sulk a lot.

“But there’s none of that today. They know they have something special in Johnson. And they know I’m struggling. They’re circled like hyenas around a dying zebra.”

Jonathan Trott went on to say that he bears no ill will whatsoever towards Johnson, despite the Aussie effectively hastening the end of his international career (Trott made a brief comeback to Test cricket in 2015 before retiring).

“One day, I’d like to shake him by the hand and say, ‘Well bowled.’ I don’t bear him an ounce of resentment. Test cricket is meant to be hard and he was admirably ruthless,” Trott wrote.

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The 52-Test veteran also goes into eye-opening detail about several occasions in which he literally broke down crying shortly before or during international matches.

“Struggling with the short ball isn’t the same as any other problem in cricket. If you are struggling on off stump, people talk about your technique. If you are struggling with the short ball, they talk about your courage,” Trott wrote.

“I felt I was being questioned as a man. I felt my dignity was being stripped away with every short ball I ducked or parried. It was degrading. It was agony. I wasn’t actually scared of the ball or the bouncer. I was scared of failing. I was scared being made to look bad and letting everyone down.”

Trott wrote that he deliberately arrived late to the ground for the fifth ODI in Southampton, before suffering from shallow breathing and a headache during the warm-up. He withdrew from the match and never played one-day international cricket again.