by Seventy-two hours: that’s how long it took Phil Salt to go from never having scored a century in professional Twenty20 cricket to becoming the first Englishman ever to win two T20 international hundreds. From a buccaneering attacker against the new ball, Salt is now composing innings for much longer.
The first difference in Salt this trip was noticeable long before its centuries in Grenada and Trinidad. At the end of the home summer in September, he consulted with Lancashire about how he could increase and develop more power from his 5ft 10in frame.
“I wanted to make myself stronger, faster and bigger,” he explains. As well as a more vigorous gym programme, he adopted a new – and much more expensive – diet.
“I’m eating a lot of calories. Getting through 3,500 calories a day is a bit of a chore.”
He jokes that his friend Abi is “mad because the shopping bill has gone through the roof.”
Salt has only gained three kilograms since his new regime. But he feels he is better suited to hit sixes over the off side as well as his best side, and more than capable of matching Andre Russell’s towering knock for the West Indies.
“You look at someone like Dre Russ, look at the role model he is,” he said. “And while it may never look like it, I can definitely improve in that area. It’s about marginal gains.”
Twenty-six for Salt so far this series – one every 7.5 balls – evidence of the results. He has hit two more sixes than fours, batting that is ideally suited to T20 in the Caribbean. As West Indies players have long learned, a combination of small outside pitches and some uneven bounce to clear the ropes is often better than trying to hit a four.
Salt’s second move was more subtle: one of the brain rather than the bulk. Without diluting his instincts, more thought helped him guide the period towards the end of the Powerplay and after the field restrictions ended.
Opening with Jos Buttler, for Lancashire, Manchester Originals and England as well, Salt is being taught the value of selection. He is not bothered by such conversations – just making sure that his prudence is focused on the most effective places. Against the West Indies, this sometimes meant being less aggressive against spin, or targeting shorter boundaries.
“When we’re in the middle, it’s more ‘put me back in my box’,” explains Salt. “It’s pretty basic. It means ‘you’re doing really well,’ or ‘kick it down a gear’.”
Head coach Matthew Mott has also seen his range increase. Salt is becoming more adept in the way he continues his innings after the Powerplay. Four in a row in the eighth over by the Brian Lara Cricket Academy – hitting first over the covers and then, after a fielder moved to protect this area, over short third man, brought into the circle instead – showed Salt’s adroit mind.
“One of the things I would say in the past about Salty, it was as difficult or harder,” explains Mott. “We’ve said a lot about the gears and going through the gears.
“The best players in the world recognize moments when they can downgrade. If a matchup is not right for them, they just take their medicine for a few balls and get the other side and then they go harder at the better game.
“That has been seen in the way he has played in the last few games. He’s focused on certain bowlers and when he’s not as strong he’s been able to get off strike and take pressure off himself.”
‘He has become smarter … picking his ball to score’
Gus Atkinson, Salt’s opponent in the England home game, makes a similar observation. “It just feels like it’s kind of getting smarter,” Atkinson says. “You always felt like you could catch him for a long time or not at all. But he feels like he’s picking up his balls to score and rotating the strike a little better.”
These few centuries were a culmination in a curious way for Saltán. Born in Wales, he spent six years in Barbados as a child; his father is a property developer. Returning to Britain, Salt gained a sports scholarship at Reed’s in Surrey. Keith Medlycott, the former Surrey head coach who coached at the school, was convinced of Salt’s abilities.
Surrey’s age group coaches were less sure; Salt had to go to Sussex to make his breakthrough in the professional game. His dynamism as an opener earned him his domestic debut shortly before he turned 19. In 2018, the summer he turned 22, Salt enjoyed success in the T20 Blast; he was then signed for the Pakistan Super League.
Two years ago, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 Salt made its first international tour. His dismissal of Shaheen Shah Afridi showed a batsman with the chutzpah to attack the best new ball bowlers in the world. It was less clear how England could accommodate him in their first choice XI. After Dawid Malan’s injury, Salt made ten in the T20 World Cup final last year, but was not selected for the ODI World Cup.
At 27 years of age, Salt is finally certain of his place in England’s white-ball sides. Although he remains true to the elegant style, there is a sense that he is now not looking to set up games for England, but to finish the job himself.
“He’s spent a lot of time in and out of the team,” says Mott. “After he got the hundred I said, ‘It’s a habit now’.
“You could see a different look in his eyes – like, not only do I belong, but I have this.”
During Salt’s 119 in Trinidad, Jason Holder attempted a slower wide ball to ease the scoring. Because of his choice of leg side, the delivery is sometimes effective against Salt. No more. After Salt hit another six over the outside off, Buttler told him: “Teams can’t bowl you.”
