Phil Salthas admitted that he is not quite certain whether he will reclaim his place in England's ODI squad, even after a Player of the Match performance (89 off 46) in the first T20I of the three-match series between Ireland and England. Notably, The Three Lions have played six ODIs since Salt's last 50-over appearance, technically ignoring him for the one-dayers.
Salt expressed his sentiments after his team completed a four-wicket win on Wednesday, September 17. The top-order batter acknowledged
that he could not quite perform up to the expectations of the team management before he was dropped from the ODI line-up. He mentioned that while he was disappointed, he could somewhat understand the reasoning behind getting dropped.
“Not many, to be honest. I can’t say much more than that. I was told to go out and play a certain way, be ultra aggressive and start in fifth gear, similar to T20s. It’s not always that easy in one-day cricket, but I tried my best. While trying to do that, I didn’t score the weight of runs which are required in 50-over cricket to hold a place. While I was disappointed, I sort of understood. I nailed my colours to the mast, that’s what the team wanted of me, and it didn’t quite work out,” Salt was quoted as saying by The Independent.
The attacking opener also commented on his understanding with his batting partner and senior wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler. Furthermore, the Englishman also remarked how well both of them complemented each other while executing their respective roles with the bat.
“We bounce off each other quite well. We know each other. I’m always the one looking to be aggressive early on, throw the first punches if you will, and Jos more often than not comes in and does his own thing. It’s a bit of a one-two. Maybe, that’s something a lot of opening partnerships don’t have, two guys who can get you off to a flier early on,” Salt remarked.
Prior to his 89-run knock, Salt blasted an unbelievable unbeaten 141 off 60 against the Proteas to break all sorts of records. England got past the 300-run mark in that particular match against South Africa and ended up recording a stellar 146-run win.
