Banton to only play white ball cricket in new Somerset deal
Tom Banton has played 52 First Class games for Somerset, the last at Nottinghamshire last August
- Published
Somerset's England international Tom Banton has signed a new contract that will see him stop playing red ball cricket for the county.
The 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batter's new deal will keep him at Taunton until the end of the 2028 season but will see him playing limited overs games exclusively for the county.
Banton has spent his entire career at the club after coming up through their academy ranks.
He has found success in limited overs cricket, playing in the Indian Premier League, Australian Big Bash, The Hundred and Pakistan Super League.
He has played in seven One Day Internationals for England and 35 T20 internationals, while he has played 160 matches for Somerset across all formats, scoring over 5,850 runs.
"I'm delighted to have extended my stay with Somerset although this has been a really difficult decision because red ball cricket has played a huge part in helping me develop my game, and some of my best memories have come in the County Championship," he told the club website.
"I know how much the County Championship means to our members and supporters and I'm not closing the door permanently on four-day cricket.
"My decision has come after a lot of open and amicable discussions with Andy Hurry and Jason Kerr over a considerable period of time.
"Given the demands and challenges of playing in and moving between all formats, I believe that focusing on white ball cricket is the right approach for me at this stage of my career."
Somerset's director of cricket Andy Hurry said: "Tom has an incredible ability to impact games and as such is in high demand across white ball cricket.
"He has played a crucial and pivotal role in our successful Vitality Blast campaigns and the impetus that he gives our batting at the top of the order has been a key element of those successes.
"We respect Tom's decision to concentrate on maximising his white ball development and we very much look forward to him continuing to be an integral part of our limited overs success moving forward."
