 Trott 's sense of humour was well known . He originated a persistent myth that workers at the Sheffield steelworks generated extra plumes of smoke when the Australians were batting at nearby Bramall Lane , in order to reduce the quality of the light . When Australia played the Gentlemen of Philadelphia in the United States , a local reporter asked Trott why Australians did not play baseball . He replied : " Running around in circles makes us giddy . " When Trott , a humble postman , met the Prince of Wales ( later Edward VII ) in 1896 , his teammates admired his natural ease of manner in the presence of royalty . Given a cigar by the Prince , Trott simply smoked it , to the surprise of those who thought a royal souvenir worth keeping . With this in mind , Trott later played a practical joke when he returned home . Gathering cigar butts on board the ship before disembarking in Australia , he distributed them to his friends claiming it was the one given to him by the Prince of Wales ; he asked the recipients not to tell others in case it provoked jealousy . Trott was extremely fond of hats ; a teammate described him as , " ... the only man I have seen who , in the nude , had to have a hat on his head " . 
