Rising English cricketer Tom Banton, who was recently crowned England Young Player of the Year at the 50th NatWest PCA Awards, is all set to be seen in action in the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League (BBL) after being signed up by the Brisbane Heat on Wednesday (October 9).
With the latest development, the Somerset batting sensation has joined South African legend AB de Villiers and Afghanistan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Zahir Khan as Brisbane Heat’s overseas signings for the upcoming BBL 09. Tom will be available for Heat for the first eight games of the season.
The former England U-19 captain recently finished as the second leading run-scorer in the Blast T20 with 549 runs at a strike-rate of 161.47, including maiden T20 ton off just 51 balls against Kent, while his T20 aggregate was the second-highest of all time for a player of the age of 21 or under after India’s Rishabh Pant.
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On the back of his brilliant show in the Vitality Blast T20 competition, the 20-year-old earned a maiden call-up to England’s T20 International squad for the New Zealand tour next month and he is now looking forward to representing Heat along with De Villiers in the BBL 09.
Talking to Heat’s official website, Banton said of his signing: “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.”
He signed off by saying, “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.”
(With brisbaneheat.com.au Inputs)
