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Destiny. William Shakespeare is known to have famously remarked “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves”. Let’s go back to Melbourne, 1873 to make sense of this statement, when Albert Trott was born. In his debut for Australia in 1895, he earned himself “One of the finest cricketers Australia has ever produced,” compliment from the England skipper.
Along with a few guinea and a loaf of bread from the crowd. Australia cricket should have nurtured and taken care of him. But instead they let him go. Nobody knows why. Even more heartbreaking was that he didn’t find a place in the team that had his brother Harry Trott as the captain.
Albert found his home in England where he qualified to play for Middlesex. “I shall make my home here”, he said. In sports, we often associate players with years in which they create magic. Where they go beyond their limits. 1899 was that year for Trott.
A double of 1000 runs and 200 wickets. A six off Monty Noble that cleared the Lord’s pavilion. Wisden cricketer of the year. Followed by a 10-wicket haul against Somerset the next year. And a double hat-trick against the same opponent a few years later. He looked like the next big thing in international cricket.
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Despite his county heroics, he had paltry Test appearances to show for. Neither England nor Australia picked him. Again a mystery. He liked his drink a little too much, which came to haunt him on the field and in life. By 1902, his bowling had started to suffer due to weight and health issues.
Money was scarce. Gambling made his finances take a hit. Slowly cricket started to grow distant. His transition to umpiring gave him a few more years with cricket. But alcohol, nephralgia and dropsy cut short his umpiring career as well. By 1911, his wife and children had also deserted him.
The pain grew unbearable. With a broken personal and professional life, Trott took the harsh step of taking his own life. The hand that sent the cricket ball over the Lord’s pavilion had the pistol using which Trott took his life. Still trying to make sense of Destiny? We all are. The fact remains there was no one line Trott.
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