Published on: Mar 26, 2020 12:56 am IST|Updated on: May 16, 2021 1:19 pm IST
Twenty-one-year-old Buckinghamshire-born Tom Banton is one of England’s next wave of prodigies ready to keep the English Cricket’s flag flying in the immediate future. For a player of just 21, using too many superlatives may seem exorbitantly-laudatory to some extent, but Banton deserves the plaudits, for he has already shown big game-temperament, despite playing only a handful of games for England at the top-level.
Yes, the test match and the 50-over limited-overs game may be the ultimate litmus test for any player, but it’s fair to say that the franchise game has its own pressure, which emanates from the big money the owners pay for a player’s services.
That’s why Banton’s future looks bright for he has been a prolific player at the club level. He racked up 454 runs in Somerset‘s title-winning campaign in English County cricket last season and scored 549 runs at an average of 40.58 and a strike rate of 161.8 in the Vitality T20 Blast.
Big Bash League (BBL) franchise Brisbane Heat took notice and signed him on a two-year contract. He didn’t disappoint. The young Englishman clocked 3 half-centuries at a team-high strike rate of 176.98 in his haul of 223 runs, before leaving the tournament at half-way stage due to the national call. He was later picked by Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL.
It’s not just the runs or the strike-rate, but his temperament and ability to perform in pressure-cooking situations that has made him one of the best young players at this moment.
For any young player or person of any field, decisions shape the destiny and lay out the path. Banton is here on merit, and for the sole reason that he took the right decisions at the right time. He has gone strength to strength and every decision he has taken so far is the turning point of his career.
Whether it’s his decision to choose Cricket over Hockey when he was in school or accepting Somerset’s offer to join their academy, everything just turned out to be fine for him so far.
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Tom Banton Height
179 cm(5’ 9”)
Weight (approx.): 70 kg (154 lbs)
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Date of Birth: November 11, 1998
21 years 04 months (as of March 2020)
Birth Place: Chiltern, Buckinghamshire
Nationality: English
School: Bromsgrove School
College: King’s College, Taunton
Educational Qualifications: Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC)
Signature:
First-class debut– For Somerset, on 18 September in the 2018 County Championship.
List A debut– For Somerset, in July 2018.
T20s debut– For Somerset in the 2017 NatWest t20 Blast on 16 July 2017.
Jersey Number: 18
Major Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders, Somerset, Brisbane Heat, Peshawar Zalmi
Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL 2020)
Nature on the field: Safe with the gloves and super aggressive with the bat.
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Marital Status: Single
Ali Hampson Silk
Dating since: 2018
Tom Banton Instagram: tombanton