Jacques Banton is ready to step out of his brother's shadow

CIARAN MCCARTHY: Banton is a lively character, an aggressive white-ball player with a penchant for unorthodox shots, and brimming with confidence. And, as he's hoping to show in 2022, he's far more than just Tom Banton's younger brother

"I was just like, Jesus, he’s a freak… this is what I want to be doing!"

He’s only played three first-team games but Worcestershire allrounder Jacques Banton will no doubt be touted as a future star in county cricket.

That is in no small part thanks to his brother, Tom - three years his senior – who has established himself as one of England’s most flamboyant and destructive batters while playing down at Somerset and broken into the England white-ball sides, playing six ODIs and 14 T20Is so far in his senior career.

Jacques Banton is a lively character, with a penchant for playing unorthodox strokes, and generally trying to make bowlers uncomfortable; he is expressive, talented and confident. You’d be forgiven for thinking that sounds familiar to a certain Somerset batter.

The 20-year-old has learned a lot from his brother, with the mould for success in modern cricket staring back at him from across the dinner table (well, not really, as they live some 120 miles apart).

"Obviously I don’t get to see a lot of him as he’s down in Somerset and I’m here and then he’s away with tours or franchise cricket," Banton tells The Cricketer. "But he’s a massive help and he’s a big inspiration for me. To see what he’s done in the past two or three years, it’s pretty amazing and something I’d hopefully like to do in the future."

^{Jacques and Tom Banton [Clive Mason/Getty Images]}

The pair have a pleasant relationship. Jacques attends all of Tom’s games if he can, and presumably that goes both ways, with the elder brother congratulating his sibling on a wicket on Instagram last season.

They are however, not always thinking about cricket. While it is a big part of their lives, they like to unwind and recharge away from the game: "Me and Tom aren’t the biggest badgers. I think cricket’s our whole life so once we’re away from it we try and switch off from it completely. We play a lot of Xbox together; I think it’s nice that we have that because if we didn’t, it would be hard to communicate as much."

Banton got the opportunity to watch Tom play in the Big Bash League in the 2019/20 season while he was playing in Sydney himself and found the sight of his big brother belting bowlers around for fun inspiring.

"I watched him against the Sydney Sixers when he hit the second-quickest fifty in the BBL, and he hit five sixes in a row. I was just like, 'Jesus he’s a freak'," he says. "From watching that I got so much inspiration. This is what I want to be doing in the next two, three, four, five years, however long it may be."

"I don’t know whether you’d call it an arrogance thing, but I think it’s just a confidence that we both have. I like to express myself; I won’t shy away from playing a reverse sweep or playing a scoop or whatever"

The Worcestershire ace, though, has some even bigger ambitions, but he understands that he may have to bide his time in order to make them a reality.

"I think everyone’s goal is to play for England. As soon as you play cricket, that’s the end goal, isn’t it?" he says.

"Definitely play in the Big Bash. Just from going over to watch Tom, it was just unbelievable. It was a tournament that really lifted me, and it gave me a lot of energy. Obviously, the IPL; just the pinnacle of your career if you’re getting picked in the IPL."

At present, he sees white-ball cricket as his fastest route into the game. The longer format requires him to rein in his attacking flair and aggression, a change in mindset he’s yet to master.

🎄 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐲 1️⃣1️⃣

Jacques Banton signed a rookie contract in June and introduced himself in fine style in the Royal London Cup 🙌#WeAreWorcestershire🍐 pic.twitter.com/OkOdhCQ9D1

— Worcestershire County Cricket Club (@WorcsCCC) December 11, 2021

"I’m trying to cement my place in the side, and I think white ball is the way forward for me. That’s where I can see myself breaking into the first-team," he said. "I think red ball is going to take a bit longer. I need to calm down when I’m batting – I get a bit excited and when I hit a boundary I want to keep going, but in red-ball cricket you can’t do that."

Of course, it’s this attacking nature, not dissimilar to Tom’s, which makes him an exciting prospect. And his aggression came out in force during the handful of appearances he made last season, with the youngster looking genuinely annoyed anytime the ball failed to find a gap.

"That’s something I’ve spoken to Tom about, like what do you do if you nail a ball at a fielder. He said forget about it, you should always be focussing on the next ball," Banton says. "I think that’s how we’ve both been brought up playing cricket, obviously I know he does it a bit better than me.

"I’m just a very confident lad with my cricket. If anyone’s bowling at me I won’t shy away from it, especially in white-ball, I’m going to try hit you for six every ball, whoever the bowler is.

"I don’t know whether you’d call it an arrogance thing, but I think it’s just a confidence that we both have. I like to express myself; I won’t shy away from playing a reverse sweep or playing a scoop or whatever.

"What Tom’s done is amazing, but you’ve got to think of yourself and just play how I play. Show people it’s not just Tom who’s the talent of the family."

However, while he is extremely proud of his older brother’s achievements and acknowledges the similarities in their approach to the game, he is very clear about what does not want: to be in Tom’s shadow.

"When he first started doing really well, I got it more and more and more, and it was something I really struggled with, I just didn’t know how to cope with it," he admits. "When I signed it was a pretty amazing feeling for me because that noise kind of stopped. I wasn’t hearing as much of, 'you’re just Tom Banton’s brother' because I had that label as a professional cricketer."

"What Tom’s done is amazing, but you’ve got to think of yourself and just play how I play. Show people it’s not just Tom who’s the talent of the family."

As far as his own talents go, Banton sees himself as a genuine allrounder, rather than just being a batter who offers an option with the ball, and he certainly showed flashes of that last season. Against Sussex in just his second Royal London Cup outing, he hit 33 runs and took 3 for 15, and followed it up with 22 runs and figures of 1 for 18 against Durham four days later.

^{Jacques Banton watched his older brother competing in the Big Bash [Chris Hyde/Getty Images]}

"My batting is definitely stronger, but I’ve been working on my bowling really hard this winter, because I don’t want to be a batter who can just bowl a bit of spin here and there," Banton says. "I want to be a genuine allrounder, who can offer something with both bat and ball."

And he’s also quite the character on the field, injecting positivity and energy into both his batting and bowling and not shying away from a Stuart Broad-style celebrappeal. Indeed, when he picked up his third against Sussex, he charged down the track, hand aloft, basking in the delight of taking another wicket in professional cricket.

"Whatever the situation is I’m always taking the positive route, even if it’s coming down the track to just hit one down the ground. I think that’s a better option than sitting in your crease and waiting for the bowler to make a mistake," he says, once again oozing confidence. "I’m always looking to hit a boundary and if that’s not available always taking the positive option to hit one or two or three.

"The more energy you can bring, it sends a message not only to yourself but to your teammates, the crowd, everyone. I like to give everything on the field 100 per cent.

"I’m quite a big character, I would say. If I get a wicket in a crucial part of a game, I will show it. I won’t shy away from a celebration, because I feel like sometimes when you give a big celebration it carries the lads with you."

Banton is keen to build a reputation for himself in the game. A confident, attacking player, with all the hallmarks of a quality white-ball cricketer, he has every chance of making it to the very top.