Cricket: England appoints new batting coach for Pakistan series

The England-Pakistan Test series is all set to start on Wednesday at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. Ahead of that, the hosts have taken an interesting decision. They have appointed former international cricketer Jonathan Trott as their batting coach.

It is understood that ex-Warwickshire seamer Graeme Welch and former New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel will join Trott in the coaching lineup.

Trott used to play for the England national side as well as Warwickshire in county cricket. He played 52 international Tests and scored 3,835 runs at an average of 44.08 before retiring in 2015. He also played 68 one-day internationals, where he scored 2,819 at an average of 51.25.

Trott also has seven T20Is to his name, where he scored at an average of 23. He continued playing domestic cricket until 2018.

Before debuting in the international arena, the 39-year old Englishman had shown amazing skills in his first-class career. He had scored about 19,000 first-class runs, reports BBC. Based on his stellar domestic performance, Trott was selected for the 2009 Ashes-winning England side.

Interestingly, Trott had been a part of the English team that became the World number one in Tests in 2011. England's recently elected batting coach also won the International Cricket Council's player of the year title on that same year.

England's home tour against Pakistan will mark the second Test series to be played following the lockdown that was imposed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The hosts had come back from 0-1 down after losing the first Test against the West Indies, to clinch the series 2-1, after winning two consecutive matches. Currently, there is a three-match ODI series ongoing between England and Ireland.

The last game of the competition will be played on Monday at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Although the hosts haven't played their top players against the Irish squad, they've won both the games. However, some distress could be noticed in the English line-up, especially when they had to deal with pressure situations. But that won't be a worry for Eoin Morgan's side.

England's A-list team is preparing for their Pakistan encounters. They will hope to continue winning regularly, as they've got an eye on the 2021 ICC World Test Championship trophy.

Currently, England is third in the World Test Championship with 226 points in 12 matches. India is leading the table with 360 points in 9 games, while Australia is second with 296 points in 10 matches.