England Should Keep Faith with Jonathan Trott Despite Batsman's Obvious Problems

Right now, Jonathan Trott looks like a man in crisis. Australia seem to have the measure of him and he is desperately searching for answers. Nevertheless, Trott is a player of such quality that he should be given the chance to find them.

It's an unusual situation for the South African-born batsman, as English cricket fans have grown accustomed to big scores and consistency from their No. 3. His Test average of 46.45 shows his reliability, and it's become all too easy to take him for granted. 

However, over the course of the summer, Trott's technique seemed to desert him and he suddenly looked very vulnerable indeed. 

That has appeared to carry over into this Ashes series and he looks nervous and unsure at the wicket. Mitchell Johnson worked him over in such a manner than Trott's body language suggested he'd rather be anywhere but the Gabba.

There will doubtless be calls for England to drop him and force him to work on his game. However, in such a crucial series, England need him to succeed.

Players like Gary Ballance or Ben Stokes could be brought into the side and provoke a reshuffle of the batting order, perhaps promoting Joe Root to No.3 to take Trott's place.

Of course, neither Ballance nor Stokes has looked like a reliable contributor on this tour so far, and England's batting depth suddenly looks very thin.

Trott's battle is as much mental as technical. It's clear that his initial movement forward and across to off is causing him to fall over and get out of position against the short ball. When facing a left-arm fast bowler like Johnson, it makes him vulnerable on the leg side.

In the past, we saw Steve Waugh remove the hook and pull shot entirely from his arsenal to eliminate it as a mode of dismissal. He was incredibly successful after this, and Trott must now look at similar options. 

The problem isn't going to go away without serious analysis of his game.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan illustrated his recent problems against quick bowlers on hard pitches in his article for The Daily Telegraph:

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For the first time in his career Trott is facing a question mark about how he is going to cope with a crisis. Ian Bell, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen have gone through that sort of period in the past and emerged stronger.

Trott can do the same but he has hard work ahead of him because his problem is against pace and that kind of issue is so hard to resolve.

On quick pitches against good pace attacks he struggles: South Africa in Johannesburg in 2009 (he scored 5 and 8), Australia at Old Trafford last summer (5 & 11), at Perth 2010-11 (4 & 31) and here in Brisbane this week.

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Michael Clarke is an enterprising captain who is unafraid to be creative with his field placings. He has a plan for Trott based on his struggles against pace, and this will not change any time soon.

It will take more than attacking bravado—as evidenced by Trott attempting to hook every short ball—to make Clarke rethink his tactics.

Prior to the second innings, it was Clarke himself who was under pressure because of concerns surrounding his technique. Against Stuart Broad, he looked vulnerable to the short ball and fell in meek style to that type of delivery.

The Australian captain responded with a century, whereas Trott looked lost. However, a good score in the second Test will give Trott confidence and help him get into some rhythm.

It's a problem, that much is clear; but it isn't one that can be solved by casting Trott from the team and bringing in an unproven batsman.

He needs time in the middle in a competitive environment—along with continuous study of his technique with his coaches.