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Tom relishing his red ball opportunity

It’s been a good start to the season for Tom Banton.

The 25-year-old has amassed 382 Vitality County Championship runs at an average of 47.75 so far this season.

His impressive performances culminated with his highest ever First Class score for the Club against Kent last week when he helped himself to an excellent 133.

Ahead of this week’s clash with Durham, we caught up with Tom to discuss his season so far.

How does he think the season has gone so far?

“Things are going nicely for me at the moment,” he said. “I probably rode my luck a little bit, but I think you need that little bit of good fortune every now and then. All of the boys are playing really well at the moment, and we haven’t lost yet, which is good! Everyone is taking huge confidence from the way that we’ve gone about things and hopefully that can continue for as long as possible.”

How did it feel to make that superb hundred last week?

“It was an extremely special feeling,” he explained. “I always feel like I’m trying to prove something in red ball cricket, and I’ve fallen short a few times, so to get over the line this time was nice. It was good to be able to contribute to the team winning, and that’s what I’m always trying to do.

“I’ve not played a lot of red ball cricket over the last few years, so the opportunity to have an extended run in the side has been good. I’m not going to get too carried away, but fingers crossed things can carry on as they are for a while.”

Has Tom approached this season any differently?

“Not really. I’m just trying to play my natural game. I’ve worked on a few technical things over the winter but nothing huge. A lot of it is down to confidence really. I’m always trying to put the bowler under pressure and the coaches have given me the backing to do that. That’s working pretty well at the moment, so let’s hope it continues.

“The main thing is that the team are winning, that’s all I care about really. We just want that County Championship title that we’ve all been dreaming of.”