Somerset batsman Tom Banton has agreed a contract to play for Brisbane Heat in Australia’s Big Bash League. The 20-year-old, who has been named in England’s T20 squad for the tour of New Zealand this autumn, is set to be with the Heat for the first eight BBL games of the season, starting in December.
He has impressed domestically for Somerset, hitting a 51 ball century in the T20 Blast this summer and he has also hit two hundred in the One-Day Cup. Now, he is set for a spell Down Under and coach Darren Lehmann says he is very pleased to have attracted a player of Banton’s calibre.
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“He was the talk of English cricket during their season,” he told the Brisbane Heat website. “Outside 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 powerplay, or to accelerate the scoring through the middle and back half of an innings.”
Banton will join up with a squad which boasts the likes of AB de Villiers and Marnus Labuschagne and he admits he is looking forward to playing alongside some quality team-mates. “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,” he added.
