BBL 2019-20: Brisbane Heat sign Tom Banton; Michael Vaughan feels its the best signing of the season

Fresh from signing one of the greatest players to have graced this beautiful game of cricket- AB de Villiers– the Brisbane Heat have now racked up another international coup by acquiring the services of the recently crowned England ‘Player of the Year’, Somerset’s Tom Banton for the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) season. The 20-year-old will feature in the first eight games for the Heat with De Villiers taking over for the final six matches and the possible knockouts if the franchise goes thus far.

Likened to the likes of Kevin Pieterson and Brendon McCullum for his precocious hitting skills, Banton shot into limelight following an outstanding display of power-hitting and consistency. Alongside Babar Azam, Tom Banton was the cornerstone of Somerset batting in the recently concluded T20 Blast where he racked up 549 runs at a strike-rate of 161.47, including a whirlwind ton against Kent.

🎥 Pure class from @TomBanton18 today 🔥🔥🔥

1️⃣0️⃣7️⃣ runs
7️⃣9️⃣ balls
1️⃣1️⃣ fours
4️⃣ sixes #WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/VEmZZCgk5v

— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) April 19, 2019

Vaughan impressed with Banton

Tom Banton’s exploits in the T20 Blast earned him a call-up to the English T20I squad for a 5-match series in New Zealand and now with this offer, Banton is pretty bewildered about what has transpired in the past few months.

“If you had asked me at the start of the summer would I imagine it going like this, I would have probably had a laugh and suggested you weren’t serious. 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,” he said.

“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.”

Posting his opinion about Tom Banton’s signing, former English captain Michael Vaughan reckoned that it was the best BBL signing of the season. He also termed the youngster as the ‘superstar in the making’ and seems to be already impressed with his batting in the T20 Blast.

The best signing of the Big Bash so far … @HeatBBL have a superstar in the making in @TomBanton18 … Already my No1 pick in @SuperCoachBBL with all the other overseas players @FoxCricket !!! #BigBash

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 9, 2019

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