Bethell versus Banton? England’s opening race heats up a year out from ODI World Cup
It was April 2025. Somerset took on Worcestershire in Taunton in the opening game of the 2025 English summer in the County Championship. Early on in the first day, Somerset found themselves at 39/3 after an impressive opening spell from Tom Taylor, hitting back after the visitors were bowled out for just 154 in the first innings. It was looking like a low scoring Championship classic as the players got a feel of the new season. But by the end of day two, Somerset sat on 637/6, leading by 483 runs. The architect of this massacre? Tom Banton.
Taunton’s prodigal son was unbeaten at a simply ridiculous 344 at dusk, surpassing Justin Langer’s highest individual score record of 342 for Somerset. Banton caused a little more damage in the morning of day three before finally being dismissed by Tom Hinley at 371 as Somerset declared at 670/6. The innings was unmistakably Banton, as the keeper-bat struck at 92.05, despite batting for over 500 minutes, scoring 58 boundaries, with 56 fours and just the two sixes.
Fittingly, over a year later, in the final game of the 2026 English summer, Banton capped off the lengthy season, this time in England blues, scoring his maiden ODI ton in his first home series in six years, sealing the three match series over Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval.
The early blow with Duckett’s duck, and the bouncy green track coupled with the late September English conditions put England’s best on the backfoot. The sheer quality of Joe Root and Harry Brook was also not seeming enough to counter Sri Lanka’s gauntlet of Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madhushanka and Eshan Malinga. But in the face of all this, Banton was locked in.
For a moment it didn’t even seem that he played 175 fewer ODI innings than Root, outclassing arguably England’s best batter ever, effortlessly as he kept the run rate consistent against all odds. Brook also struggled for the first 33 deliveries of his innings, until Banton’s comfort gave him the guidance needed to wake up, as he scored 58 in the next 33, before being dismissed on 77.
Yet Banton soldiered on. He used the spectating period at the non-striker during Brook’s assault to recuperate and mirrored his captain, using the pace that was proving a hindrance to fire the hosts even further, crossing the hundred mark for the first time in an England jersey. From being under run-a-ball at 85, to adding 41 in the next 17 balls, his relentless energy fueled optimism in the company present to witness records being shattered. But his over-eagerness was his undoing, as he charged down against Sachindu Colombogage, flaying the ball straight to Malinga at long-on, walking back at 126 to thunderous applause.
The accomplishment of three figures was the cherry on top of an all-star performance from the Somerset batter, as he finished as the top scorer in the series with 209 runs in three innings at an average of 69.66.
“It’s been a tale of emotions, I guess, from the other day, kind of having a chance to do it,” said Banton in the post-match press conference about scoring his first international century, after missing out on the milestone in the previous ODI, where he was dismissed for 73 as Sri Lanka beat England in Headingley.
“But, yeah, to come here today and just be really committed to what I’ve been doing, I think the last few months and then to finally get over the line was, yeah, a feeling I just couldn’t really kind of explain to anyone, but yeah it’s really been an amazing day.”
Banton is the fifth take in England’s audition to find Ben Duckett an opening partner, following Jamie Smith, Zak Crawley, Rehan Ahmed and Jacob Bethell, the latter of whose injury in July made way for Banton to come in upfront. Bethell seemed to have his name set for the role with his left handed ability and prospects as England’s next big star.
However, now Banton has made a strong case for that opening spot, bringing in a good headache for England’s think-tank with a flair that contrasts brilliantly with Duckett’s unorthodox style, creating an unpredictable natural order up top. However that dynamism is greatly competitive with the unique all-left combo Bethell brings with Duckett up top, not to mention that Warwickshire youngster too possesses the attacking ferocity adored by head coach Brendon McCullum in his teams. Yet the argument favours Banton as he has achieved better numbers in the opening spot than Bethell, who is probably better suited at number four, scoring three fifties and his sole ODI hundred from that position.
“Look, Tom Banton has been unbelievable in this series. I think in the last 12 months he’s started walking a foot taller,” said England head coach Brendon McCullum in the post-match press conference. “The way he plays is exceptional. He’s hitting the ball hard and I think his ability to go up and down the gears today was superb. It felt like he passed up an opportunity to score a hundred the other day and we obviously lost that game so he’s disappointed with the outcome of what he was trying to achieve there but to back that up today and take his opportunity to play a match winning hundred is everything we want in one day cricket.”
A special knock recognised by all 👏 pic.twitter.com/WsfpLS9Man
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 27, 2026
“We had to structure our set up a little bit differently because we had Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran out, so that’s two left-handers which we would ideally have,” said McCullum about the injury-enforced changes made in the Sri Lanka series.
“We want to be a team that has variation throughout our line-up so it can’t be too easy to play against or strategise against but we had to live with the amount of right-handers we had in this series but I felt like they performed really well. It would be nice to have some of that variety and it looks like there’s a lot of competition for places in the team.”
Openers aside, the idea of variation extends to the entire England XI, as the ODI World Cup draws closer. So while a core is being established by McCullum and skipper Harry Brook, a surprise candidate like Banton has proven that the door is always open for the ones on the fray and to even those whose names are not on anyone’s lips to find a place by the time that first ball is bowled in South Africa, and make England the powerhouse they were in 2019.
“I don’t think so, again, it’s circumstantial, right?,” expressed McCullum about having someone new in his England team by the time the marquee event rolls around. “Depending on injuries, we’ve got our players that we think are on our radar and then you’ve got your next layer of players and then you’ve got your next layer of players and that’s unproven because they just haven’t had the opportunity.”
“The beauty of white balls is there are so many games that you do get the opportunity to expose different talent throughout that time,” he added. “The door’s simply not shut on anyone. I hope that the identity of how we play is pretty obvious. I hope the demand and support we want from our players is pretty obvious. If you bang the door down and give them the opportunity, then by all means.”
