Jonathan Trott Takes Lions Job With Eyes on England Top Role
Jonathan Trott wants to coach England one day. For now, he has the Lions.
The 45-year-old has replaced Andrew Flintoff as head coach of England’s second-string development side. The role covers winter tours to the Caribbean, South Africa and Sri Lanka, and Trott says he wants his players to play with pride whenever they wear the three lions.
Trott interviewed for the recent England men’s Test head coach vacancy. The job went to Stephen Fleming. Trott has said he still aims to lead England in the future, with the Lions job as his next step, according to The Guardian.
His own route to the top was slow. Trott first played for England in the short 20-over T20 format, in a home series against West Indies in 2007. He scored nine and two. He knew only one teammate, Warwickshire colleague Ian Bell.
Then came the hard miles with the Lions. He played in the Duleep Trophy, India’s domestic first-class competition, faced touring sides in England and toured New Zealand in full. Two years after that T20 debut, he made his Test debut at The Oval in 2009 and hit a series-winning century.
That start set up a long career. Trott played 52 Tests for England and won the Ashes, the five-Test series against Australia, three times, according to Sky Sports. He finished with more than 20,000 career runs and nine Test centuries.
Coaching has taken him wide. He led Afghanistan’s men for four years from 2022, including wins over England at the last two global tournaments. He also worked with Pretoria Capitals in 2024-25. Earlier, he served as an England Lions batting coach and joined England’s staff for the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in January 2018.
His Lions work has already started. He is in charge for two IT20s, international T20s, against Sri Lanka, with Troy Cooley, Graeme Swann, Ravi Bopara and Carl Hopkinson on his staff, the ECB confirmed. The vacant Birmingham Phoenix head coach role has been reported only as a rumoured future possibility.
For fans, this means a familiar face in a key job. The Lions bridge county cricket and the full England side. Trott knows that gap. He lived it.
