Jonathan Trott has been in the news lately for reasons he will eagerly wish be doused by runs from his bat. Trott's performances are what count for England, not his place of birth. But until he plays some more emphatic innings for England, says Simon Hughes in the Telegraph, Michael Vaughan's caustic observations will continue to ring in Trott's ears.

Trott, reared in a suburb of Cape Town, grew up playing in the same Western Province team as Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs and Ashwell Prince and will feel added motivation when he plays against them this month. The pinnacle of achievement for a professional sportsman is total respect from your peers. Trott, whose English father, Ian, is a cricket coach in Leatherhead, inherited his parent's passion for the game and always striven to be as good as he could be. That ambition often leads South Africans here. The money now in the county game is attractive. But what also drives them is the intensity and frequency of our cricket. It is a fast track to maturity.

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