Tom Banton: "I was never going to leave"

SAM DALLING speaks to the Somerset opener, fresh from signing a new two-year contract extension at Taunton, who reflects on a difficult period with the bat, his rise to superstardom and focusing on enjoying cricket again

bantont300801-min

"No, I'm only ever going be at one club so…ok, sorry Ben." 

Tom Banton was on 12th man duty for Somerset's LV=Insurance County Championship match with Yorkshire. He had popped onto the club's live stream and was fielding viewers' questions.

With his contract expiring, plenty wanted to know about his future. And although the commentators deliberately steered clear of the subject, straight-talking Banton wanted to address the elephant in the room.

His stay is now official, with Somerset announcing a two-year extension has been penned taking him through until at least the end of the 2024 summer.

"I know it's quite late in the season," he told The Cricketer. "But I was just trying to focus on cricket. It was always going to get done. I was never going to leave. A lot of my best mates are here and I just love the family feeling that the club has. Everyone wants each other to do well. We are pushing for trophies and long may that continue."

Speculation surrounding his departure had gathered momentum as the weeks have passed. First Warwickshire was mooted - natural, given his family home is in the Midlands and he still turns out for Barnt Green CC when able to - and then Surrey became a likely destination.

When Somerset secured Tom Kohler-Cadmore's services for next summer, many believed it was a like-for-like replacement.

"There was obviously a bit of speculation," he explained. "People were telling me about it, but none of it was true. Some of it was quite funny to hear. But it was the first time I'd heard any of it.

"The Warwickshire link is probably always going to be there. I'm from Birmingham so I don't think that's going to ever go away. But that was never true. It's part and parcel of sport; there are always things flying around so it's nice to put that to bed now."

bantont300802-min

Division One survival is the target for the remainder of the season (Harry Trump/Getty Images)

One of sport's great cliches is about a player 'bursting onto the scene'. But the 2019 summer - his first full season in the side - was just that, bringing 1,003 white-ball runs at 41.79. There were three hundreds (two against Kent and one against Worcestershire) plus a further seven half-centuries.

Only teammate Babar Azam outscored Banton in domestic T20 that season, while Somerset claimed the Royal London Cup.  Such a rich vein of form was impossible for the England selectors to ignore, and that winter he debuted in both T20I and ODI cricket.

"It was quite intimidating, to begin with," he recalls. "I didn't know anyone. There are all these high-profile cricketers I've grown up watching and now I'm playing alongside them. It was pretty special."

But having hit such dizzying heights so early, Banton had set his own bar almost impossibly high: "That year was probably a 'one in 20' year. I might never get there again. When you start out, no one has ever played against you, you've got no fears or scars, and you just go out and play.

"But then once you've done it, there is an expectation. I remember getting called up for England and then came back to Somerset and thought 'God, people are going to expect so much of me now.' I'm kind of now dealing with that as well."

Expectation is perhaps the key to it all. It's not that Banton's subsequent returns have been poor. And spells in the Indian Premier League (Kolkata Knight Riders), Big Bash (Brisbane Heat) and Pakistan Super League (Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators) attest to his high standing around the world.

But measured against his natural talent, there is certainly more to come. Banton is candid in his reflections and there's no hint of him seeking sympathy.

"The more you play, the more scars you have, the more you doubt yourself sometimes," he begins. "Cricket is literally riding a wave. You've just got to try and stay level; I've learned that pretty quickly."

On self-doubt, he explains: "I feel like it's got more and more as I've played more. It's something that will never go away. Everyone has it. Everyone feels pressure. You can't get rid of it. That's the human body. I think accepting it and getting on with it is the quickest way to success.

bantont300803-min

Banton playing for the Lions against South Africa - though he has dropped back in the England pecking order (Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)

"Every human, every sports person, gets nervous and has to somehow deal with it. I don't really have any coping mechanisms or anything. I just try to embrace it for what it is and get on with it."

Despite the obvious and appealing trimmings of white-ball cricket, Banton is desperate to become a red-ball regular.  A finger injury ruled him out of the opening fixtures of the season, but he returned with half-centuries against both Warwickshire and Surrey. 

The runs tailed off and he soon found himself out of the side. But a concussion suffered by Lewis Goldsworthy at Chelmsford gave Banton a mid-match chance. He took it, bludgeoning 126 from 120 balls, registering his maiden first-class century in the process.

Did that innings feel like the lifting of a hoodoo? "Things like that don't really bother me. I want to be a match winner, I want to win games for teams, whether that is for Somerset or England. I want to be as consistent as possible but it's also about understanding what player I want to be.

"I feel like when I first started playing I was happy to be this big six-hitter. You chat to a few people who say 'this is how you should go about it', and you go back into your shell. Sometimes I get caught up with how people want me to play. It's about being happy with how I want to go about it and ignoring the outside noise."

Sometimes though the outside noise is impossible to ignore. Players of Banton's generation - he is 23 now - have never known life without the scrutiny of social media. And the bipolar nature of the internet means there is no room for nuance, no middle ground.

In one instance Banton had enough of one particular detractor, taking to Facebook to explain that, while he might not be playing to his best, "...that does not warrant you degrading me on every social media page after every innings." His calm and measured response won many plaudits amongst supporters.

"You see it all, and it is hard at times. We don't want to read stuff like that. I've heard from a lot of people, for a long time, that there are a lot of negative comments on there. 

"At the end of the day, we are all human. We are not going to do well, or win every game. It's so fickle and I struggle to deal with that. So I thought it was time I put my foot down - not say anything silly - but say what needed to be said.

bantont300804-min

Banton has failed to catch fire in The Hundred (Harry Trump/Getty Images)

"When you are doing well, everyone thinks you're the best player in the world. And when you've done badly for a few games, it's…you know exactly what is being said.  I don't think you are ever able to not see it, or ignore it."

That self-awareness has served and will continue to serve Banton well. He has previously pulled out of further winter BBL stints because of 'bubble fatigue', putting his own health ahead of financial gain: "I thought if I'm in a happy place enjoying my cricket, I'll probably do better than if I'm forcing myself to go and do stuff. If I'm not enjoying it, I'm not going to do well. That was my thought behind it."

He is aware that his returns for Welsh Fire in The Hundred have been below par (179 runs in 14 innings) and admits there are times when he wishes he could step back from being a 'marquee' player and "...go back to the days of not having any pressure on me. Again though, that's part and parcel of sport."

And he is trying to use his experience to help his school friend and T20 opening partner Will Smeed, who is enjoying a breakout 12 months of his own.

In many ways the pair are very different; Banton is tall, languid, crouching at the crease and flourishing through his strokes, whereas Smeed is shorter in stature, jabbing like a boxer, his shots all staccato as the ball flies to the boundary.

But they are also very similar; former Kings College pupils; Somerset academy graduates; teenage superstars; dashing top-order run makers. 

"I understand what he is going through. He is doing so well, and it's awesome to see," he adds. "I'm just trying to help him along his journey. There will be times when he fails. That's sport. All of us have done that. It's about trying to help him through that if it does happen. Hopefully, it doesn't. That would be amazing. But if it does, I'm very close with him so I want to be there to guide him through it."

For now, Banton's immediate attention is back on Somerset, who currently sit ninth in the Division One table. Granted, no one is quite sure how next season will look but avoiding a bottom two finish is critical: "Everyone's ready now to get back together.  We’ve got to win a few games haven't we, otherwise, we are going down."


Related Topics

Comments

No comments received yet - Be the first!

LATEST NEWS

No topics to show right now, sorry!
STAY UP TO DATE Sign up to our newsletter...
SIGN UP

Thank You! Thank you for subscribing!

Units 7-8, 35-37 High St, Barrow upon Soar, Loughborough, LE128PY

website@thecricketer.com

Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.