Bloodied Tom Banton enjoys ‘special feeling’ of helping England to ODI victory
Banton, who was struck on the helmet by a steepling bouncer from Spencer Johnson, went on to make a superb 121 in 99 deliveries.
Australia may have drawn first blood against Tom Banton but the Englishman had the last laugh with a match-winning century in Adelaide.
The tourists put their mis-hap in Perth to one side as they levelled the series with a resounding 135-run success, with Banton almost single-handedly responsible for the winning margin.
He cracked a superb 121 in 99 deliveries at the top of the order, putting England on the road to 355 for six – their highest ever one-day total on Australian turf.
But he had to come through a painful start to do the business for his team. He had just 10 when he was struck on the helmet by a steepling bouncer from 6ft 4in paceman Spencer Johnson – sending his neck guard flying and leaving him with a small facial cut.
He carried on undeterred though, dispatching a Johnson bumper for six soon afterwards and standing up to every subsequent attempt to unsettle him with short balls.
“Fair play to him, he got me nicely in the chin. There was a bit of blood actually but I think it’s alright now,” he said.
“Fifty-over cricket is hard. Sometimes you get off to a flier, and sometimes you have to rein it back in. It’s about picking your moments and match-ups.
“They bowled really well and challenged us the whole innings. We always talk about adapting to conditions and pitches and today it felt a bit easier if you got in, so you had to make the most of it. To come here and get (a hundred) is a pretty special feeling.”
Banton may not have been in the team had Jacob Bethell not sustained a knee injury this summer, cutting short his own stint at the head of the innings and creating a temporary vacancy.
The Somerset man has grabbed it with both hands and now averages 60 in nine outings across three different countries. England will be keen to find a way back for Bethell ahead of next year’s World Cup but the case for shuffling Banton back out of the first-choice XI is growing less persuasive by the day.
Asked if he was starting to feel at home in his preferred position, he said: “I guess so, but I’m not thinking too much about it – that’s for other people to do.
“I’m just trying to do as well as I can and score as many runs as I can for England. That question, and the answer, is for the people with higher power. I’m just focusing on the game.”
Banton’s day was not done when he was finally dismissed, caught on the boundary trying for a third consecutive six off Xavier Bartlett. He was surprisingly invited to send down two overs of his off-spin – having never previously bowled in a professional white-ball game.
The result was secure long before he stood at the top of his mark but he revealed his contribution was part of a planned experiment rather than an on-the-hoof call from captain Harry Brook.
“I’ve been bowling in the nets a lot, it’s something Brooky, Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum) and Jeets (spin coach Jeetan Patel) have spoken to me a lot about with my height,” he said.
“If we go to the World Cup and there are dry pitches where we want more spinners, it’s another string to my bow I guess. It’s something I’m trying to work on.”