Eoin Morgan salutes two England legends who quit cricket on the same day

It has not been long since England’s highest run-scorer in Tests Alastair Cook decided to bid adieu to the game after playing the final Test against India at the Oval earlier this month. Before the dust settled around the sudden retirement of the left-handed opener, two of England’s former international players hung up their boots on Wednesday and they are Paul Collingwood and Jonathan Trott.

Both Collingwood, 42, and Trott, 37, made big contributions to English cricket in their playing days. Both the players revealed their plans of bidding adieu to cricket at the end of the domestic season this year. Collingwood, who led England to the World T20 title in 2010, played his last game for Middlesex against Durham while Trott, a batsman with enviable performance in Tests, played his last game for Warwickshire against Kent. He scored a magnificent 124 in his penultimate game which was against Sussex in a first-class game last week.

They lived the dream for so long

England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan paid tributes to both the departing players in a tweet on Wednesday saying he admired both the players who “lived the dream for so long”. While Collingwood played the game since 1995 when he made his List A debut, Trott started his journey in 1999-2000 and the two have been witnesses some of England’s best cricketing moments in the last few decades.

Two guys I admire retired today having lived the dream for so long. Congratulations @paulcollingwood5 and @Trotty on fantastic careers 🙌 pic.twitter.com/c5Xq3M7fMQ

— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16) September 26, 2018

Collingwood played 68 Tests; 197 ODIs and 36 T20Is between 2003 and 2017 scoring almost 10,000 international runs and taking 144 wickets. Trott, on the other hand, played 58 Tests; 62 ODIs and seven T20Is, amassing over 6,600 runs with 13 international tons. He was often seen as the ‘Mr Glue’ in the English batting line-up in the period between 2009 and 2012.

Trott thanked the players of Kent who greeted him during his batting on the ground on his final day in office though he could manage only eight in the game.

Never dreamed that all those years ago I’d have had the career I’ve had. You can only hit so many balls in life, think I’ve had my fair share! Thanks to the @kentcricket boys for this. https://t.co/RHVUCEOAks

— Jonathan Trott (@Trotty) September 25, 2018

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