Jonathan Trott right at home with England team on tour in South Africa

It made a welcome change for England's cricketers to go from highveld to the coast, from the rain and cloud of Johannesburg to the sun and sea-air of Cape Town. And for Jonathan Trott it was a bit of a homecoming too.

Not too much of one, though. He was born in Cape Town, and went to Rondebosch School, and sat on a bench under the oaks at Newlands to watch his half-brother Kenny Jackson play for Western Province against their big rivals Transvaal.
He had the privilege of watching and being coached by Peter Kirsten, a wonderful batsman who managed 12 Tests after apartheid. But that was all in Trott's past – and he does not have to strain too hard to present himself as a converted Englishman.

His father, who is English, used to sell cricket gear and coach in Cape Town. On Saturdays, when he did one-on-one coaching, his son would hope the boy to be given coaching would not turn up so he could nip in for a session.
"I was lucky to go to a great school, where it was compulsory to play team games," Trott said. It would have been a miracle if he had not played high-standard cricket, for someone.
But now, with one England Test cap, one English wife, and two one-day appearances for his adopted country, he does not feel as though he is coming home – partly because he has no family left in Cape Town, although his parents will fly here for the Test.
"I left in 2002 and although I know where to go, the last time I was here I couldn't wait to get back to England. I've never been much of a beach boy."
The South Afican propaganda department, led by coach Mickey Arthur, tried to undermine England's unity by pointing out that Trott had lunched on this tour with Dale Steyn.
Trott's response was that it was no pre-arrangement, he had just bumped into the fast bowler – and they had a lot in common as both had played for Warwickshire.
"I'm very happy and content in Birmingham playing for Warwickshire," Trott said, convincingly, without any of Kevin Pietersen's effusions about loving his adopted land.
Trott, along with Andrew Strauss, has been the form batsman of England's tour, assured and at the top of his game. In 50-over cricket he has scored 85 off 104 balls against Diamond Eagles, 74 off 89 against South Africa A, and 87 off 119 in the first one-day international; plus seven, 33 and 51 in 20-over matches.
His start here is consistent with the theme of his career. On his first appearance for Warwickshire's second XI he became the first to make a double century on debut in the Second XI Championship, scoring 245: and his partner Trevor Penney noted how disappointed Trott was to get out.
He scored a hundred on his first-class debut, for Warwickshire, after a few games for Boland when he was at Stellenbosch University. And he did OK on his Test debut.
Indeed, a nice problem is arising for England of a kind they have not had for a long while. Come the first Test next month, Strauss cannot be dropped because he is captain and nobody in the world has batted better this year.
Alastair Cook, if recovered as expected from his bulging disc, is the other specialist opener. Ian Bell cannot be dropped after his major contribution to the Ashes of 72 in the Oval Test. Trott scored 41 and 119 then, and Paul Collingwood is in the form of his life.
That leaves the only other specialist batsman in the party, Pietersen. And the chemistry between these two could be decisive. Trott has become level-headed: he used to be a bat-thrower, and once smashed a photograph designed for Penney's benefit, but he has listened to the Warwickshire coach, Ashley Giles.
On Monday he told of how Pietersen had advised him not to waste energy in worrying about the reactions of the South African crowd. Trott knows when to doff his cap/helmet to the senior player.
Pietersen, however, on the three occasions when he has batted with Trott, has twice got out cheaply trying big shots. Was he trying to prove who is top dog, or was it poor shot selection? For the next two months read on.