Tom Banton happy to adapt as England look to keep T20 World Cup hopes alive

Tom Banton is ready to comply with England’s buzzword of “adapting” to any situation at the T20 World Cup ahead of their do-or-die clash against Italy on Monday.

Banton ensured England’s destiny for a Super Eight place remains in their own hands with a composed 63 not out in Saturday’s five-wicket win over Scotland, anchoring a nervy pursuit of 153 in Kolkata.

He did so by largely forgoing the sweeps, both orthodox and reverse, that have been a signature of his stop-start international career, with the stroke accounting for six batters in the match.

England still need to beat the lowest-ranked team in the tournament at Eden Gardens to guarantee a top-two spot in Group C and progress to the next stage in Sri Lanka, where conditions could differ slightly to India.

But Banton insisted England’s best prospects are to think on their feet and adjust accordingly, as they did in a 3-0 clean sweep in Sri Lanka, where they defended 128 in the last T20 earlier this month.

“It’s just reading the game and adapting – that’s the biggest word at the moment in our changing room,” Banton 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.

“A big score is probably not going to be realistic. Like it happened in the last T20 (in Sri Lanka), it got really tight at the end. Sometimes it’s just about winning and winning ugly.”

Banton played one sweep to Mark Watt before putting it away, having welcomed Scotland’s banker spinner with three sixes off three legal deliveries to swing the momentum in England’s favour.

His composed innings following three successive single-figure scores demonstrate an extra edge to Banton, who was first catapulted to England recognition a week before his 21st birthday after a breakout 2019 for Somerset.

Likened to Kevin Pietersen and drafted into the 2020 Indian Premier League, Banton’s form fizzled out and he was dropped by England in 2022, but he has hardly looked back since being recalled to the T20 side last summer.

“I think I’m just a bit older, more mature, got a better understanding of my game,” the 27-year-old said.

“When I came on to 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 travelling all over the world, which was great, but I’ve got more of an understanding now.

“I have kind of, I don’t know, just grown. I’ve learned a lot about myself. Not even anything to do with cricket. Just being away from cricket has helped.”

Banton is used to opening the innings but his second coming with England has seen him slot in at number four, where he averages almost 40 with a strike-rate close to 150 in half-a-dozen innings.

He fell in tame fashion in England’s nail-biting win over Nepal and again in the defeat by the West Indies, with Harry Brook, who captained Banton at the Under-19s World Cup in 2018, accusing his side of being “too careful”.

“As any human would do, there’s obviously doubts but I think Baz (England head coach Brendon McCullum), Brooky, the coaches and everyone in the team backs everyone,” Banton added.

“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.”