Best shots from Banton's 63 against Scotland
Tom Banton believes he is older, wiser, and simply better now.
Nearly seven years have passed since the England batter first gained attention as a 19-year-old by scoring an impressive 71 from 37 balls to help Somerset chase 204 against Surrey in the T20 Blast.
Beyond the numbers, one reverse flick for six off Sam Curran—now an England teammate—caught the eye of discerning observers.
The following winter, Banton was selected by England for their tour of New Zealand.
He retained his place the next summer in both Twenty20 and 50-over formats, chosen as a promising talent to help transition the 2019 World Cup champions into a new era.
Banton scored 58 against Ireland and 71 in a T20 against Pakistan, but these were his only scores above 50 in 15 matches.
After five more caps in 2022, this current run marks the 27-year-old's third stint at international level.
His match-winning 63 not out in England's five-wicket victory over Scotland on Saturday, with the team's T20 World Cup hopes at stake, may not have been his highest score but represented his finest innings for his country—a breakthrough performance where he fully showcased his talents by defining a match on the biggest stage.
"I think just a bit, obviously older, more mature, got a better understanding of my game," Banton said when asked what he is doing differently this time.
"When I came onto the scene, I remember at the start of that summer I was just about scraping into Somerset's second team.
Then six months later, I was playing for England and traveling all over the world, which was great, but I've got more of an understanding.
I have kind of, I don't know, just grown. I've learned a lot about myself. Not even anything to do with cricket."
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Banton's recall came at the start of last year with this World Cup in mind.
Although he primarily plays as an opener for his county and in The Hundred, England selected him to bat in the middle order due to his ability to attack spin—the bowling style that dominates the middle overs of T20 internationals at World Cup venues in India and Sri Lanka.
At that time, only India's Abhishek Sharma, the world’s number one ranked batter, was scoring faster against spinners than Banton. His average of 44.1 against slow bowling was the highest among English batters.
His unbeaten 54 to secure a T20 series win in Sri Lanka before this tournament hinted at his potential. The innings against Scotland was a bright moment amid questions about England's form.
"It's [batting at number four] is different, I won't lie," he said.
"You come in probably against spin, or towards the end of the powerplay, depending how we go.
The biggest one is like adapting to the scenario or the wicket.
I found Wankhede [the Mumbai stadium, venue for England's win over Nepal and defeat by West Indies] a bit hard.
Today [Saturday], I feel like it was a pretty good wicket."
Banton's 63 gives England crucial victory over Scotland
Banton's candid nature is a welcome trait within the current England setup.
He was among those whom captain Harry Brook described as being "too careful" against West Indies, having been dismissed while tentatively chipping a catch.
He speaks openly and acknowledges his doubts, which were present following a low score against Nepal.
"As any human would do, there's obviously those doubts but I think Baz [coach Brendon McCullum], Brooky, the coaches and everyone in the team backs everyone.
It's T20 cricket, people are going to go up and down, that's just how T20 cricket is sometimes.
You've just got to keep backing yourself, keep training hard, keep working hard on your game and luckily it came off for me today."
Against Scotland, Banton's innings perfectly illustrated his growing maturity. His first nine deliveries came from pace bowlers, yielding only five runs.
When facing spin for the first time, he took a single and then hit his first boundary off the next ball.
It was notable how Banton played straighter than his England teammates against Scotland and was rewarded with the highest score of the match.
When Scotland's left-arm spinner Mark Watt entered the attack, Banton struck the first two balls for sixes over long-off and the fourth ball over mid-wicket.
This was a batter clearly playing to his strengths, though he insists it was not premeditated.
"It's just reading the game and adapting - that's the biggest word at the moment in our changing room," he said.
On a flat wicket, we're one of the best teams in the world but if we want to win the World Cup, especially if we're going to Sri Lanka, you're only going to have to adapt.
Sometimes it's just about winning and winning ugly."
In total, Banton scored 28 runs from 10 balls bowled by Watt. He accumulated 35 runs from 31 deliveries from the rest of Scotland's attack.
Across the match, six dismissals occurred when batters attempted sweeps—the bounce of the Kolkata pitch presenting a challenge.
Rather than following this pattern, Banton avoided his trademark sweep shot—he tried it once against Watt early on but did not repeat it—and instead targeted straight boundaries.
"Everyone sets up the field [square to defend Banton's sweeps] straight away now and on a wicket like that it was probably perfect, because I wasn't even trying," he said.
That wasn't even in my mind to try and hit it there.
You've got to keep evolving as about and keep learning and keep trying to hit it in different areas."
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