Why Tom Banton is a genuine England Test selection prospect

Walking out to bat on day three at Taunton last weekend, the runs Tom Banton had left to score were entirely personal. Somerset already had a 483-run lead over Worcestershire, and Banton had already surpassed the highest score ever made in his club’s shirt. All that remained was to see just how far he could go, perhaps even get close to Brian Lara’s 501*, the record for the most runs ever scored in a first-class innings.

In the end, Banton didn’t threaten Lara, and Somerset ended up one wicket away from victory when a draw was declared, desperately rattling through the overs with their spinners to try and get more time at the last Worcestershire pair. But those five and a half overs Banton lasted on the morning of day three allowed him a victory lap for a truly incredible innings.

The figures don’t quite do it justice. More than five hours batted, 371 runs, 403 balls, 58 boundaries, almost five sessions in the middle - none of those convey the ease with which Banton scored, reaching his first half-century off 64 balls, coming in when Somerset were wobbling at 39-3. Nor the effortlessness with which he and James Rew attacked at the end of day two, Banton by that point having passed a double. The only point at which Banton veered into recklessness was on the morning of day three, and by that point who cares?

Perhaps the records give a more accurate account. The highest County Championship score by a Somerset batter, the fourth-highest first-class score reached in England, and the second-highest first-class score made by a No.5 batter. Closer, but the context of Banton’s career to date is a better measure.

As the game ebbed away in the early April evening sunshine, every Somerset player round the bat and the spinners toiling away, the scene sparked memories of the unforgettable match on the same ground against Surrey late last year. Banton was also a protagonist in that game, having scored a century before injuring his ankle in the warm-ups for the following day. Despite his injury, that match was cited by Banton in an interview with Wisden.com earlier this year as a game that encapsulated his love for the red-ball game, despite having had a previously complicated relationship with the longer format.

“Those are the moments you will never be able to recreate in any other environment,” Banton said. But they’re also moments he’s at times considered giving up altogether.

Banton has openly admitted that he previously considered quitting red-ball cricket to focus on the T20 format. Those thoughts came to him when he was considered the next big thing on the franchise circuit, but was struggling to hold down a place in Somerset’s Championship side. It marked a difficult period of his career when he suffered with burnout from fulfilling the many lucrative contracts he was offered as a virtuoso teenager, while simultaneously being unable to fully deliver on that promise in an England shirt.

In between flashes of brilliance in international cricket - like the boundary-fuelled 71 he scored against Pakistan in 2021 - there were the strains of pandemic touring, along with increasing criticism of his hyper-aggression on social media and from pundits. Coming out of that period and after being dropped by England, in Banton’s own words, he “hated cricket”.

An unforgettable knock comes to an end.

Tom Banton falls for 371, the highest individual score in Somerset's history 👏#CountyCricket pic.twitter.com/dtIW34zW3j

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 6, 2025

For a while, his career looked like the archetypal warning of heaping too much on a young player too soon. Fewer franchise contracts came in, and he flitted in and out of Somerset’s red-ball side, while making a few impactful white-ball scores. But, having entered the second half of his 20s, last year marked a shift in that narrative. Early season form saw him back in possession of a regular Championship place, and he repaid that faith with an average of a shade under 50 for the season. His supreme form in the ILT20 over the winter, combined with England’s deficiencies in India, saw him called up as an injury replacement for the final game of the series and subsequent Champions Trophy campaign.

But while the white-ball recall brought Banton back into the international fold, a red-ball call-up could see him fully deliver on the prodigy label he was given as a youngster. Could his sustained form across formats see Test honours come sooner than previously anticipated? England already face a decision to make over how their top seven will line up, with Jamie Smith to return and Jacob Bethell impressing in New Zealand. Set against Banton’s triple-hundred, the two incumbents under pressure – Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope – struck a flat note. Neither made a significant score in the opening round, and the sight of Crawley’s stumps flying through the air less than 10 minutes into the season struck a continuation of his pattern from the winter.

To follow the typical McCullum blueprint when picking a Test top seven, those who make the teamsheet are justified as being the best seven batters in the country, with positioning of secondary importance. With plenty of time before England must name their first Test squad of the summer, is it possible that Banton will establish himself as being at that level?

In addition to the numbers, Banton’s face also fits, beyond the obligatory ability on the golf course. He scored his triple century at a strike-rate above 90, but has also developed the maturity and adaptability others in and around the Test squad have been criticised for lacking. While previous call-ups under McCullum have been made on future possibility or gut feel, Banton has a lot behind him to indicate he would be a success – runs, prodigal status, and a track record of overcoming adversity. It’s not only the runs he’s scored over the last year that have shown now is the right time to bring him into the Test environment, but the skills and mentality he’s developed that indicate, this time around, he’s ready for what the next step up has to throw at him.

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