Six Months On, Salt Returns to Barbados as One of England’s Key Men
As England prepares for their upcoming Cricket series, Phil Salt emerges as one of the team’s pivotal players. The batter, tasked with providing a rapid start, has risen to second in the International Cricket Council’s batting rankings and made consecutive hundreds against West Indies in the Caribbean late last year.
“I love playing red-ball cricket,” Salt told The Telegraph. “I feel it is something I am good at.”
This sentiment has been reinforced by his recent success, including a victorious stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Kolkata Knight Riders, where he scored 435 runs at a strike rate of 182.
Despite the hectic IPL schedule, which saw him returning to the hotel as late as 2 am, Salt managed to stay connected with the Premier League title race back home. “Luckily the IPL games don’t start until 7:30/8pm and you don’t get back to the hotel till 1am or 2am,” he explains. “Your body clock switches almost to English time so it’s actually not as hard as you’d think.”
While he missed KKR’s IPL final triumph, Salt was in the UK to witness Manchester City’s tense victory over West Ham on the final day of the Premier League season. “We went two up and then I thought I’d go back outside,” he recalls. “Then they got one back and I just had an eye it from the outside. I didn’t really want to ride the wave too much.”
As England prepares for the T20 World Cup and the European Championship, Salt is focused on his Cricket commitments. “I’ll let the boys have their day in the sun,” he says. “We’ll be back.”
Now back at the Kensington Oval, the site of the upcoming World Cup final, Salt is eager to make his mark. “I’m very fond of the place,” he says. With his rising form and international recognition, this could indeed be Salt’s time to shine.
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