PS: Please don't rub Salt in my wounds
Why players like Phil Salt need to be appreciated more in T20 cricket
When you think of Phil Salt, what likely comes to mind is “an intent merchant,” “a guy who barely gets going consistently” and “a guy who gets out quickly more often than not.”
And his aggregate career stats certainly do reflect all of these attributes most likely synonymous with Salt for most people.
In T20s, he has scored 4118 runs across 180 matches averaging 25.57 striking at 149.79, while in T20Is, he has scored 308 runs across 16 appearances for England averaging 22 striking at 148.79.
He has no centuries to his name to date in T20 cricket; only 28 fifties in T20s and 2 fifties in T20Is.
One of those fifties is his top score in both formats: an 88* against Pakistan that came in their tour of the country right before the T20 World Cup.
This 88* came against a bowling attack of Mohammad Nawaz, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, and Aamer Jamal.
And three of them Nawaz, Wasim Jr, and Shadab went on to play in the T20 World Cup that followed.
Salt spared no one, hitting at least one boundary against all five bowlers.
England would go on to finish their powerplay at 82/1 in a chase of 170, scoring at 13.66 runs per over (RPO).
Salt was responsible for over half of those runs, scoring 45 (17) striking at 264.70 at the end of the powerplay.
In just 6 overs, owing to Salt, England had already scored about half of the runs required to chase down, unarguably breaking the backbone of the chase in the powerplay alone as you’ve likely seen me tweet.
And the backbone of the chase was indeed broken in the powerplay, as England would go on to chase 170 in just 14.3 overs, with 33 balls to spare.
Salt finished on that career-best top score of 88* to date off 41 deliveries. He struck at 214.63, scoring 13 boundaries and 3 sixes in the process.
Now you might be thinking (or might have thought at the time) that why doesn’t he play like this more often?
But the thing is that unless you’re an intent merchant, a very elite T20 batsman, or playing on a very flat surface at Trent Bridge against a favorable bowling attack, such innings are virtually impossible to come off your blade.
What you’ve also likely seen me tweet is that Phil Salt bats with the ideal T20 mindset. Which is that he is a fast starter, but gets out quickly quite often.
While it’s probably more or less just a more “sophisticated” way of saying he is an intent merchant, this mindset is certainly reflected in the graphs below.
Only 4 openers have faced at least 1000 balls in the powerplay since the start of this decade.
While what might be surprising is that all 4 who satisfied the criteria are Englishmen, notice how Phil Salt has not only the second-highest strike rate to Alex Hales but also the lowest average out of all 4 batsmen, averaging only 31.27.
The batsman with the highest average in this graph is James Vince, who also just barely doesn’t have the worst strike rate out of the 4. Vince has averaged 46.71 striking at 137.73.
And unlike most openers, Phil Salt doesn’t completely drop anchor after the powerplay.
In the post-powerplay (overs 7-9), Phil Salt has the highest strike rate for an opener who has faced at least 250 balls of the post-powerplay, 138.65 to be exact.
However, yet again, he has the lowest average, averaging just 26.07.
Though you might think I am biased for going with a very large sample size for both graphs, my point is to emphasize that Salt has stuck true to batting with the ideal T20 mindset, taking into account the volume of T20 leagues he has played, as has been the case with many English players in recent years.
It is also to emphasize the trade-off theory common in the world of Economics, that being if you want more of something, you have to give up more of something else (known as the opportunity cost).
Another term common in Economics is equilibrium or the “point of equilibrium,” which basically means that economic forces are balanced, which helps create a balanced and efficient market for suppliers, and for businesses, an optimal capital structure.
Interpreting this principle for T20 batting gives us Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, and Chris Gayle, among many other batsmen of their ilk.
In other words, they are the elite batsmen of T20 cricket in the modern day and age of the format. These are batsmen who are not only able to provide you with the level of security and consistency that elite anchors are able to provide but also do so at a high strike rate like intent merchants.
That is the point of equilibrium for T20 batting.
However, unless you are an outlier like Bairstow, Hales, and Gayle, if you want to bat with a very high strike rate, you have to trade off some level of consistency in the process to do so; the opportunity cost.
Phil Salt hasn’t been able to reach that point of equilibrium and likely won’t ever be able to give he’s played T20 cricket for nearly 6 years with this mindset and is 26 years old; it is muscle memory for him, something that’s very difficult to rewire in most aspects of life.
So, he will have to continue to give up an opportunity cost in the form of consistency (or more specifically a nicer-looking T20 career average) to be able to bat at a high strike rate as he has.
The opportunity cost is playing high-risk shots such as unorthodox and aerial more frequently, as well as looking to take on your matchup and looking to attack as quickly as possible.
Another reason I’ve also highlighted the post-powerplay is that it is very common for batsmen to slow down after the powerplay ends, as a well-regarded writer and analyst Jarrod Kimber has also talked about.
“The thing I hate most in T20 cricket is that after the powerplay, set openers go from striking the ball at 140 to striking the ball at 80,” said Kimber in an episode of Wagon Wheel in 2021.
“Think about it this way, I can find any Ajinkya Rahane, any Steve Smith, Manish Pandey, Ryan ten Doeschate to come in and knock the ball at around a run a ball after the powerplay. I can find anyone to do that, right?”
”If you are a set opener, and you’re already on 30 off 18 balls and then you are on 45 off 36 balls, do not do that, that is a stupid thing to do.” he said.
And Phil Salt does not indulge in this stupidity.
In the recently concluded South Africa T20 (SA20), Phil Salt played a clinical role in helping the Pretoria Capitals reach the finals.
He was the 11th-highest run scorer of the tournament, scoring 238 runs across 10 matches averaging 29.75 striking at 152.56.
Out of the 10 other batsmen that followed, his average was better than only Reeza Hendricks (whose batting approach in the tournament was an extreme antithesis to that of Salt’s), while only his fellow opening partner Will Jacks and Adam Rossington had better striker rates than him.
A similar trend akin to the graphs from earlier is seen in the following graphs.
Out of the 16 openers that satisfied the criteria, Phil Salt had the fifth-highest strike rate but yet again, comfortably the worst average of the top 5 in terms of highest strike rates. Averaging 24 odd in the powerplay, the next best was Rossington by over 10 runs; 34.83 to be exact.
Phil Salt has the 4th highest strike rate out of the 9 openers who made the cut but of the top 5 batsmen in that order, his average was only better than Jacks’ at 17 odd, once again highlighting that he stays true to his values even after the powerplay ends.
Salt’s ideal T20 mindset is also rewarded by Cricinfo’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) metric, where he was ranked as the 23rd MVP and the 8th most Impactful Batter respectfully.
I first came across Phil Salt myself in the 2018 Abu Dhabi T20 Trophy (where I and many other people also happened to have come across Haris Rauf that tournament) where he was signed by the Lahore Qalandars.
He scored 78 runs across 3 matches (it was a very short tournament with 6 teams divided into 2 groups of 3) averaging 39 striking at 168.08.
His campaign included a 15 ball 26 in the final against the Titans coming in at #5 (he can also bat in the middle order but is primarily an opener) after the top 3 struck at only around a run a ball to help the Qalandars go from 108/3 at the 16th over mark posting a total to 148/6 at the end of the innings.
Keep in mind this is the final where Rauf was officially on the radar of many fans (including myself), so in the context of the match, his cameo did go vastly underappreciated in spite of the obscurity of this tournament as a whole.
Afterward, I expected Salt to play for the Qalandars in the fourth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) the following year, but he instead played for them in the Abu Dhabi T10.
Salt would be drafted by Islamabad United in the Gold category that season, and was retained by them until PSL6.
And as I developed my understanding of the intricacies of limited overs cricket further, I came to understand that players like Salt align with the philosophy of Hassan Cheema, the analyst for the franchise, that being an opener who plays with the ideal T20 mindset I’ve described, a resource that is very scarce in the domestic talent pool of Pakistan.
He ended up being a backup option for most of his time with United and didn’t play by his typical modus operandi at all.
Far from it.
He averaged just 14.2 striking at 121.9 in the 9 times he batted for United across 3 seasons, with a top score of 46 that came at a strike rate of 121.1 in his debut season.
After being released by United, he was drafted by the Qalandars in Gold once more last season, but his returns only worsened, averaging 9 striking at 114.5 the 8 times he batted for them. But his top score of 26 came at a strike rate of 200 odd.
Unsurprisingly, he was released for the ongoing season and went undrafted, but given his recent form the past few months, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come back in the PSL once again and prove the saying that the third time is the charm, and that too for United.
But going back to the topic at hand, the next time you see Phil Salt bat and be dismissed very quickly, please don’t rub Salt in his wounds.
Instead, be the first one to use an antibiotic in the wounds and bandages so they heal up quicker.
And you won’t regret it.
Players of Salt’s ilk (or intent merchants as some dub it) is not only the future of T20 batting but also play the format with the right intent.
I say this because, for every 15-20 T20 batsman like Salt, only one or two of them would likely be able to reach that point of equilibrium.
And that will be his role in the Delhi Capitals’ setup: a high-intent merchant backup to skipper David Warner who on his day, can not only maximize the powerplay just as well as he and fellow opening partner Prithvi Shaw but also potentially even break the highest team powerplay score record in the IPL, currently held by the Lynnsanity-Narine duo.
However being a backup, particularly in this batting-stacked Capitals setup means he’ll have very limited opportunities and fail in all of them, so I will reiterate: please don’t rub Salt in his wounds if that’s all she wrote.
Instead, rub it on the wounds of players like Reeza Hendricks until they at least stop the disrespect they show to T20 cricket as we saw in the SA20, and treat players like Salt with extra care, like you would do so with a baby or a particularly valuable or rare item.
You may argue that there are better and more consistent players than Salt who play with the ideal T20 mindset I have described and aren’t elite, you’re most definitely right. But Salt is the first player I’ve made synonymous with this mindset since taking the initiative to better my understanding of limited-overs cricket, and so that is why he is the protagonist of this piece.
So once more, please don’t rub Salt on his wounds the next time Phil Salt is dismissed very quickly.