Phil Salt: A Striker Who Wants to be the Main Man for England Team

The swashbuckling opener Phil Salt wants to be the main man for England's white ball teams. The opener is currently enjoying a stellar form in international cricket, as his recent performances in the T20I cricket have been simply outstanding. Many people think that Salt only goes to the field with a ‘see it and hit it’ mentality. The opener, however, disagrees with this fact, as he says that there is a process behind his belligerent hitting.

As per Salt, he spends hours looking at the footage before going into any match. This is his go-to method because he believes in preparation rather than just swinging randomly in the game.

"Everything's got to have due process behind it," said Phil Salt. He is like a character who looks fiery on the pitch, but when you see him outside, he is more like a diligent reader of the game.

"It really is down to you. I'll get my iPad and have a look through the footage. More often than not, I'll grab someone who I know [to discuss it with] and then I'll go through the footage myself too, just with my notebook, and write down what I think is important in that moment. I'll then go away from it for a bit, and come back and have another look at it," said Phil Salt.

If we look at the hitting arc of Salt, it becomes quite evident that he places his shot in a particular style. He does not go for blind slogging, but with a conviction that is derived from his precise analysis of the game.

 

A Player Who Studies Everything Before the Game

The opener works a lot on studying every opposition bowler. He works with the analysts to study the pitch maps of bowlers. This gives him a clear view of where they concede runs and how they attack batters with different lines and lengths. Based on this observation, Salt plans his game against particular bowlers, ensuring to always stay ahead of them.

"Where they go in the first few balls, that's a massive tell. You've got to look at the whole picture: where they feel most comfortable going at the death, what their pace-off variations are, and when they bowl them,” said Phil Salt.

The England batter also described how he sees bowlers in the nets before the game. According to him, this gives a lot of idea about how someone is approaching the game, and what he’ll do during crunch moments.

"Even the smaller stuff, like watching the opposition in the warm-up, you get a massive tell for where people are, and what they're feeling most comfortable with on that day. When you see someone bowling five or six yorkers before a game, that could be someone you're lining up at the death,” said Phil Salt.

The belligerent England opener also stated that he wants to be the main man for England. He also stated that his batting still needs some improvement in particular areas. This admission leads to the idea that he eventually wants to become a player who can win games for England.

"I feel like this is the player that I want to be, but I feel like I've still got improvements to make in so many areas. I'm turning up approaching every game with the same mentality: I want to be there, I want to contribute, I want to be the man. That's the mindset I have. And also, I want to enjoy it. When I do that, that's when I play my best," said Salt.

The next series awaiting Salt could prove to be a bit different challenge. England is slated to tour New Zealand for white ball games before going to Australia for the Ashes. It is expected that Phil Salt will once again come out hard against the Kiwi bowlers, but this time, he has to make some adjustments in his game according to the fiery, bouncy conditions. This one would be a new challenge for Salt, and he will need to prove his mettle on those wickets as well.