Jonathan Trott, who hit 184 and shared a world record eighth-wicket stand of 332 with Stuart Broad in the Lord’s Test against Pakistan, admits that he is sickened by match fixing allegations.
The Pakistan cricket team is in the midst of a betting scam, where fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif are alleged to have bowled pre-arranged no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England.
A British tabloid named four Pakistani players and three others of being involved in a spot-fixing racket. It alleged that a Pakistani businessman Majeed had paid bribes to the players to bowl no-balls and wides in the series and in the Lords test.
Trott’s elation of scoring a century in Lord’s Test turned to desolation as news of the scandal began to break. “It was a surreal weekend. Naturally, I was on an amazing high on Saturday night. But I was too tired to celebrate at all — not even a quick glass of champagne,” the Sun quoted Trott, as saying.
“I just went back to my room and watched TV and played on my Xbox. Then, at around 10 pm, I started to hear the rumours. So I was ringing around my teammates to find out what they had heard,” he said.
“This was a Test match at the home of cricket, and the whole day was being overshadowed by these allegations and accusations. “I remember when young Amir had to come out and bat there were boos and jeers from some and a cold shoulder response from others. As for me, I was in turmoil. There were so many emotions going on — mixed emotions,” Trott said.
“I was angry, I was in shock but I was also very sad. Sad for the game of cricket, sad for the England team who had worked so hard for this deserved victory. And, yes, sad for me and Broady after what we’d done,” he said.
Trott said England’s overall achievements should not be sullied by the current scandal — no matter what the outcome of the ongoing investigation. “The experts were all saying what great bowlers these guys are and how difficult they were to handle. And they were right. So no one should ever decry what we did against them. Even if these allegations are proven, they should not be allowed to tarnish what we did at Lord’s,” he added.