Warwickshire chief executive Colin Povey believes some early-season games with his county side is just what Jonathan Trott needs after his turbulent winter.

Trott is back with the Bears and currently playing in their three-day friendly against Oxford MCCU at The Parks.

Success in the match has eluded him. His first innings in the game brought just eight runs from a 28-minute stay at the crease, although he did bowl a nifty over this morning.

Brought on for the final over before lunch he sent down a maiden brimming with variation, guile and menace which had the university batsmen clinging on desperately.

Trott has endured a difficult few months. He returned early from the Ashes tour with what the ECB at the time called a stress-related illness and then had to withstand a torrent of media analysis, much of it critical, following his revelation that his problems were more down to exhaustion and burnout than illness.

So the first objective for Trott now is simply to get back into cricket among his Warwickshire team-mates and away from intense scrutiny (this week’s daily attendance at The Parks was around 100).

That is exactly what he needs, reckons Povey.

“It will be great for Trotty to have an extended run with us and get into his normal routines, playing some cricket and hopefully scoring some runs,” the chief executive said. “And then the rest will take care of itself.

"In these circumstances you just want to get on and do your job

“There will be plenty of other news knocking around in the next couple of weeks with a new England coach to be unveiled and the start of the season and who is getting runs and wickets.

"Trotty just needs to get back to doing what he knows he can do best and enjoying his cricket.

"He is starting the season with us with guys he knows well in a place he knows well in a strong team hopefully starting to hit a bit of form.”

Trott will play his first competitive game since the Ashes on Sunday when Warwickshire start their championship programme against Sussex at Edgbaston.

Given the choice, it’s doubtful that he would select any other opponents - he has often plundered the southern county.

He started with a century against them on his Warwickshire debut in 2003 and also notched his maiden first-class double-century against them at Edgbaston in 2005.