Tom Banton joins Brisbane Heat for BBL 09 fresh from being hailed as England’s batting future
Brisbane Heat have added to already impressive batting stocks by signing one of the top scorers in England’s domestic T20 competition and their recently named young player of the year.
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The Brisbane Heat has snared one of English cricket’s boom prospects with Somerset batting star Tom Banton joining the club for this summer’s Big Bash League.
Banton, 20, was last week named England’s young cricketer of the year after forcing his way into the England T20 International squad to tour New Zealand next month.
A former England Under-19 captain who played with Heat batsman Matt Renshaw at Somerset last year, he was the second leading runs-scorer in England’s Blast T20 competition.
His 549 runs came at the stunning strike rate of 161.47 including a century off just 51 balls against Kent.
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Banton will be with the Heat for the first eight games and joins South African legend AB de Villiers and Afghanistan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Zahir Khan as Brisbane’s international recruits for the summer.
Banton has essentially been signed for the period before de Villiers arrives though the two may yet overlap.
“If you had asked me at the start of the summer would I imagine it going like this, I would have probably had a laugh and suggested you weren’t serious,’’ Banton said.
“I was blown away when it was announced last week that AB was coming to join the Heat so what was already going to be a huge experience just got bigger.
“I’m really looking forward to coming to Brisbane and seeing what Queensland has to offer after previously playing club cricket in Perth when I was younger. I’ve watched a fair bit of the BBL at home and it is a quality competition with so many outstanding players. I can’t wait to be honest.”
Heat coach Darren Lehmann has landed Banton’s signature following a scouting trip to England during the Ashes.
“He was the talk of English cricket during their season,’’ Lehmann said. “Outside the World Cup and the Ashes, Tom was the player that a lot of people were really excited to be watching, and with good reason.”
“He’s a lovely striker of the ball and has that wide and varied range of shots you need to make the most of the early overs in the power play or to accelerate the scoring through the middle and back half of an innings.”
“The prospect of pairing him alongside some of our young batsmen like Max Bryant, his mate Matt Renshaw and Sam Heazlett is pretty enticing, that’s for sure. But we know Tom will also benefit from playing and being around the likes of Chris Lynn, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting and Marnus Labuschagne as he takes steps to expand his skills and experience in Australian conditions.”
“He’s joining us for the first half of the tournament but we’re hopeful he will have some time to catch-up with AB de Villiers at some point as that would be a great opportunity as part of his experience with the Heat.”
Originally published as Tom Banton joins Brisbane Heat for BBL 09 fresh from being hailed as England’s batting future