Tom Banton was finally dismissed by Worcestershire for 371 – the fifth-highest score in the 135-year history of the County Championship.
Batting throughout the second day of the new season, Banton had reached stumps unbeaten on 344, the highest score in Somerset’s history, taking him past the 342 club legend Justin Langer, the Australian opener, made against Surrey at Guildford in 2006.
Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory, batting with Banton, chose not to declare on the third morning, allowing him to chase down a slew of further records. In a slightly chancier chapter of his innings that saw relentless attack, with balls just short of fielders, Banton added 27 to his overnight score before being caught behind cutting off the left-arm wrist-spinner Tom Hinley.
In that mini-session, Banton overtook Murray Goodwin’s 344 for Sussex against Somerset in 2009, Kevin Pietersen’s 355 for Surrey against Leicestershire in 2015, Bobby Abel’s 357 for Surrey against Somerset in 1899, and Neil Fairbrother’s 366 for Lancashire against Surrey in 1990.
Just four men had made bigger Championship scores than Banton, all of them quadruple-centurions: Graeme Hick (405 in 1988), Sam Northeast (410* in 2022), Archie MacLaren (424 in 1895), and Brian Lara (501* in 1994). Remarkably, Banton’s is just the third-highest Championship score at Taunton, with Hick (for Worcestershire) and MacLaren (for Lancashire) both making their high scores at Somerset’s home.
Somerset declared immediately Banton was dismissed, with 670 for six on the board, a first-innings lead of 516. Craig Overton picked up the wicket of Worcester opener Gareth Roderick.
Banton had broken the Somerset club record score with the penultimate ball of the second day, pulling Kashif Ali to the midwicket boundary for his 53rd four, to go with a single six.
Banton’s was the eighth triple-century made by a Somerset batsman, and first since James Hildreth’s 303 against Warwickshire in 2009. Banton dwarfed his previous best first-class score of 133.
All this from a batsman who has admitted that he has considered retiring from the red-ball game in order to focus on T20. But Banton enjoyed a breakthrough season in the red-ball game in 2024, making 891 runs at 49.5 having found a new home in the middle order.
An emphatic celebration from Tom Banton as he scores his maiden double century pic.twitter.com/Vu0RHg3K2H
— Rothesay County Championship (@CountyChamp) April 5, 2025
That, and strong form in franchise cricket, contributed to a recall in white-ball internationals for the first time in three years in India in February. Increasingly, it feels like Banton is a candidate for higher honours not only in white-ball internationals, but Test cricket, too. The first-class method he has found suits Brendon McCullum – with whom he once worked at Kolkata Knight Riders – down to the ground.
While Banton scored quickly throughout – his strike-rate was north of 90 – this was a mature innings. He came to the crease at 39 for three on Friday but fluently made it to stumps 84 not out that night. He shared 371, a Somerset record for the fifth wicket, with the England Lions wicketkeeper-batsman James Rew, who made 152, and carried Somerset to 637 for six at stumps.
